Kilpatrick’s Kate Klein and Aditya “Ditty” Shrivastava recently led a webinar discussing the new administration’s approach to federal funding and its implications for grant and aid funding and policy changes. They explored numerous topics including, but not limited to, the rescinded federal funding freeze, agency enforcement including contract/grant terminations, policy changes affecting grant administration, and developments that may occur in the future.
Key takeaways from the presentation, include:
1. Most at-risk are federal assistance related to diversity, equity, and inclusion; green or alternative energy; non-governmental organizations; and international aid.
2. The president possesses tools to redirect or transfer funds that have been appropriated and allocated by Congress, but rescission or redirection of obligated funds is legally uncharted territory.
3. Organizations should continue to manage and apply for grants as usual, to the extent that funding remains undisrupted. If an organization feels particularly at-risk for future funding freezes, they should consider communication with their grants officer or manager to request assistance or possibly early dispersal of funds.
4.Advocate for your organization, which may include representing your grant work in a light favorable to the administration. If you have ties to policymakers, consider reaching out to advocate for your federal funding to be continued. But be careful to not use federal funds for lobbying purposes.
5. Organizations should also proactively plan in case funding is frozen again. This includes finding alternative funding and creating a contingency plan for restructuring.
6. If funding is frozen, document all expenses. Some expenses may be reimbursable if funding becomes available again at some point in the future.
7. Certain avenues of legal challenge may be available to organizations in certain circumstances. These include administrative appeals, actions under the Tucker Act, and Administrative Procedure Act (APA) claims.
