Grant Writing Word Changes with the Trump Administration
Within the first month of the Trump Administration inauguration, federal grants are taking a massive hit.
It's not a surprise that the Trump Administration has their own set of priorities when it comes to grant funding, as does any federal administration, however, what is new is the depth and reach of words to be avoided or banned when it comes to federal grants.
How Trump’s Executive Orders Are Changing Federal Grants
What is also new is the far-reaching removal of Executive Orders that are now embedded in normalcy as a nation.
The foundation of Trump's grant priority shifts are grounded in Executive Order Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity, which revoked a number of Executive Orders that directed Equal Opportunity. Further Executive Orders also target DEIA, environmental justice, LGBTQ+, foreign aid, reproductive rights, and a number of other areas.
Doing away with anything related to these Executive Orders is one tactic that the Trump Administration is using to reduce grant funding. Trump is trying to showcase that this initiative is to combat President Biden’s initiatives and to get rid of ‘wasteful’ spending. However, these Executive Orders really go much deeper and are far-reaching into the Civil Rights movement and even removing Executive Orders from 1965.
Which Grant Words Are Banned in Federal Grants by Trump Executive Orders?
The implications of the new Trump Executive Orders are already being felt in the grant world, with more than 10,000 USAID contracts cut and 20 programs eliminated (90% of USAID funding was cut in a matter of weeks), indirect costs being capped at 15 percent for NIH grants, and pauses and cuts on various grant programs.
In a leaked copy of the National Science Foundation review, there were 68 words identified that will now trigger further scrutiny during the grant review process. Using any of these newly banned and trigger words in a Federal grant application will trigger scrutiny at best and, at worst, eliminate a grant application from even getting to the full review process.
What is shocking are the types of ‘trigger’ words, such as: 'women' 'female' 'disability' 'racism' and more. Many of these words are just literal descriptors.
By creating these 'trigger' words, the Trump Administration is adding another layer of bureaucracy to the federal grant review process, and ultimately trying to eliminate the ability to fund basic programs and research.
Tactics Grant Writers Are Using to Bypass Trigger Words in Government Grants
With so many newly banned words, grant writers now need to get more creative, and cautious, with how they write federal grants.
Grant writers are used to changing the way we angle language to apply for grant funding. But with the depth of removal of basic words, this does pose a more unique position for us.
To get around using trigger words, grant writers are first starting with the list of banned words and then:
using AI (such as ChatGPT) to replace words,
going back to their mission statement and values,
choosing only to apply to non-federal funding, and
advocating for policy changes.
For a free workbook, with a list of replacement words, grab my regularly-updated Federal Grant Trigger Word Replacement Checklist.
Holly Rustick,
CEO & Podcast Host of Grant Writing & Funding
