From 4/21 Nonprofit Champion:
Regulatory Changes Affecting Nonprofit Partnerships
This month, President Trump issued four executive orders on regulatory processes, making changes to grant administration that affect grants and contracts with nonprofit partners. The first executive order requires review and repeal of “unlawful regulations” and, notably, appears to direct agencies to skip the typical public notice and public review process when changing or repealing federal regulations. The second executive order requires agencies to identify regulations that are anti-competitive, create unnecessary barriers, or add unnecessary burdens to the procurement process, among other things. The third executive order requires agencies to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to only contain provisions required by statute or are otherwise necessary. The last executive order requires agency contracting officers to conduct a review of all open agency solicitations and notices for non-commercial products or services and consolidate them into a proposed application requesting approval for the agency’s approval authority. While these orders are mostly focused on for-profit businesses, these proposed changes to the procurement process and corresponding regulations could affect nonprofit operations, grants programming and administration, and funding streams.
Grant Administration Changes Affecting Nonprofit Partnerships
Nonprofits seeking to access or apply for grants may now be subjected to DOGE review and approval after it took control of the federal website www.grants.gov. The portal is the primary access point to find and apply for federal grants, estimated at more than 1,000 grants and more than $500 billion in awards. Additionally, earlier this month, the Department of Health and Human Services closed the Northeastern and Western CAS Field Offices, which help grantees, including nonprofits, with the negotiated indirect cost rate process and setting a rate for federal grants awarded. Only two offices now remain to review indirect cost rates. Charitable nonprofits seeking a higher rate than the de minimis can anticipate a longer process.