The order is geared toward overhauling the labyrinthine process of grantmaking and curbing grants that favor far-left causes.
By Catholics for Catholics
A new presidential Executive Order by President Donald Trump is geared toward overhauling the labyrinthine grantmaking process, especially in deficiencies and in their discretionary use, according to the White House.
“Every tax dollar the Government spends should improve American lives or advance American interests. This often does not happen. Federal grants have funded drag shows in Ecuador, trained doctoral candidates in critical race theory, and developed transgender-sexual-education programs,” wrote Trump in the Executive Order.
“In 2024, one study claimed that more than one-quarter of new National Science Foundation (NSF) grants went to diversity, equity, and inclusion and other far-left initiatives. These NSF grants included those to educators that promoted Marxism, class warfare propaganda, and other anti-American ideologies in the classroom, masked as rigorous and thoughtful investigation,” wrote Trump.
Uh-oh! CRS, USCCB, and Catholic Charities will have some 'splaining to do! https://t.co/NNm3f5y3OO
— Lepanto Institute (@LepantoInst) August 20, 2025
The order, according to The National Law Review, roasts some actual federal grants as an “offensive waste of tax dollars” and promoting “anti-American ideologies,” arguing that grants have been issued to “organizations that actively work against American interests abroad.”
Trump said, “The harm imposed by problematic Federal grants does not stop at propagating absurd ideologies. An unsafe lab in Wuhan, China — likely the source of the COVID-19 pandemic — engaged in gain-of-function research funded by the National Institutes of Health.”
“The NSF gave millions to develop AI-powered social media censorship tools — a direct assault on free speech,” Trump wrote. “Taxpayer-funded grants have also gone to non-governmental organizations that provided free services to illegal immigrants, worsening the border crisis and compromising our safety, and to organizations that actively worked against American interests abroad.”
According to the Law Review, the order also finds defects in the grant consent process, noting that drafting grant applications is “notoriously complex” and therefore too costly for smaller institutions. The order strives to align federal grants with the Administration’s policy preferences and give the Administration greater control to select grant recipients.
Save and Share This Catholic Patriotic Minute!
Your action is key to winning the next Presidential Election.
