The present administration’s give attention to reducing authorities spending reached one other milestone on August 7 when President Trump signed an government order,
The EO goals to strengthen accountability over the spending of taxpayer funds by means of improved oversight and coordination of grantmaking, guarantee federal grants are used strictly to advance U.S. pursuits and safety, and stop funding for actions deemed improper, together with these with ideological, international or politically contentious agendas.
The packages that obtain discretionary grants or awards as outlined in 2 Code of Federal Laws 200.1 are lined underneath the EO. It doesn’t embrace packages the place laws establishes an entitlement to the funds on the a part of the recipient (comparable to block grants), these awarded primarily based on a statutory method or catastrophe restoration grants.
Per the EO, every awarding federal company should appoint a senior workers member to supervise the design of an enhanced due diligence course of earlier than awarding grants, together with:
- Figuring out that discretionary federal awards won’t be used to subsidize or facilitate tasks or functions that promote anti-American values or public security;
- Guaranteeing grants are awarded to a broad vary of potential recipients, not simply the identical repeat organizations;
- Verifying that funded tasks demonstrably advance the administration’s coverage priorities;
- Monitoring funding bulletins by means of interagency coordination to make sure funding for particular tasks already addressed by one federal company isn’t duplicated by one other company; and
- Figuring out high-risk grant recipients or program varieties throughout all companies.
The Workplace of Administration and Finances will oversee revisions to the Uniform Steerage and different related tips to:
- Streamline software necessities and require all discretionary grants to allow early termination if they aren’t used underneath the brand new restrictions in place;
- Overview discretionary grants to restrict their use for prices associated to amenities and administration;
- Require periodic audits;
- Observe how the grants are literally used; and
- Restrict the quantity of federal grant awards used to cowl administrative prices.
The EO took impact instantly on signing, with stipulated goal dates for sure recognized federal company motion gadgets. It applies to new and pending grant purposes except they have been already awarded.
