06/24/2026
Federal grants sound boring — until they're gone.
Russ Vought, the OMB Director who authored Project 2025, is pushing a rule change that would give him personal control over more than a trillion dollars in federal grants. Dr. Angela Rasmussen, our Science Chair, breaks down what's actually at stake.
Three things to know:
This is an end run around the Constitution. Congress is supposed to decide how taxpayer money is spent. This rule centralizes that power in one unelected official.
It touches almost everything that makes your community run — not just scientific research (though it ends that too). Bridges and utilities, small-business loans, farm subsidies, rural services, health departments, hospitals, food banks, libraries, parks, fire departments, ambulances, even election administration. Anything Vought decides he doesn't like can be branded "DEI" or "wasteful" and cut.
It requires every grant to "directly support presidential priorities," rewarding political loyalty and punishing dissent — and it would take effect right in time for the midterms.
Here's what you can do, and it's easy: there's an open public comment period, and by law these comments have to be read and answered. Tell them how this would affect you and your community. Make it clear it's unacceptable.
https://f.mtr.cool/atpaynakdb
