White House to Overhaul Federal Grants to Root Out ‘Woke’ Waste, Abuse

The White House’s budget office will overhaul the way the federal government awards grants, grafting in English-only requirements and E-Verify requirements to combat illegal immigration while cutting out woke agenda items.

The Office of Management and Budget will implement a wide-ranging slate of reforms to Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations, an OMB spokesman confirmed to The Daily Signal on Thursday.

He laid out the changes, which align with The New York Post‘s earlier reporting.

The reforms aim to ensure that federal spending will align with current law, with President Donald Trump’s executive orders, and with his administration’s priorities. The changes will aim to promote transparency, efficiency, and stewardship of federal funds, while empowering agencies to identify and root out waste, fraud, and abuse.

In addition, the changes will curtail grants that do not align with President Trump’s orders and policies, enabling political appointees to suspend or terminate such grants.

Within 10 days of receiving evidence of fraud, agencies must deliver the evidence to the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D.C.

The reforms will prohibit federal grants that advocate “woke” causes, such as discriminatory event services that promote certain groups over others; so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion; and transgender ideology and controversial experimental transgender medical interventions.

The reforms will prohibit agencies from excluding otherwise eligible faith-based organizations from grants. They will also remove climate alarmist requirements regarding human emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

The proposed changes will impose English-only requirements for grant announcements, and continue the requirement that all grants be awarded in U.S. dollars. They will require adherence with the Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify program, to ensure that grant recipients do not employ illegal aliens.

They will forbid taxpayer funds from going to voter registration campaigns, issue advocacy, or political activities.

The reforms will allow President Trump’s political appointees to revoke “woke” grants awarded in the last year of President Joe Biden’s administration, fulfilling a key promise of the Department of Government Efficiency.

While DOGE aimed to terminate many grants from the Biden administration, federal judges overruled some of those terminations. This new process will empower the agencies to secure important cuts.

“Some of the worst abuses of the grantmaking system will be eliminated and literally save the taxpayers tons of money, as well as making sure the federal government is not funding efforts to go after the culture and values of American citizens,” an OMB official told The New York Post.