White House Faces Stiff Pushback on Subjecting Grants to Political Review

Some of the nation’s top law enforcement officials were not pleased when the White House embarked on its push to assert more political control over more than $1 trillion in annual federal grants.The proposal, unveiled in May, stood to enable the administration to steer significant funding to causes and organizations aligned with President Trump — and to cancel grants if recipients did not conform to his political views.That troubled a set of groups representing sheriffs, narcotics officers and district attorneys, which said this month that the “undefined expectations” in Washington could interfere with public safety.The letter was one of roughly 500,000 formal comments that have flooded the Trump administration in recent weeks.

Many of the posted submissions expressed misgivings with the draft White House plan to take greater control of federal spending.The opposition has been wide ranging, spanning academic researchers, artists, city leaders, civil engineers, congressional lawmakers, housing experts, state attorneys general and regular Americans, who have warned that the White House could imperil public services if it subjects federal grants to political review.The administration proposal, which is not final, targets a vast set of federal funding for climate, education, health, housing and infrastructure.If carried out, the regulation would require Mr.

Trump’s political appointees to approve grants before they are awarded to cities, states, nonprofits and other institutions.The review would primarily aim to ensure that the money supports purposes that “demonstrably advance the president’s policy priorities.”Recipients of federal funding would also be subject to broad political handcuffs.

Taxpayer dollars could not “promote anti-American values,” for example, or be doled out to nonprofits that engage in some kinds of “issue advocacy” or that have certain “memberships and affiliations.” And a large set of topics would be off limits, esp...