Most Americans have never heard of the CFR—the Code of Federal Regulations—let alone 2 C.F.R. Part 200 but, like so many aspects of our vast federal bureaucracy, it has an outsized impact on the quality of our lives and, thus, should command some attention. These days everyone wants to know how to turn off woke and weaponized spending in Washington—understanding, as they do, that the permanent bureaucracy is ideologically left and working, in many cases, against the express wishes of the president and the voters. A new rule from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will finally make it possible for voters to get a handle on these out-of-control agencies.
Part 200 is the operating manual for a federal grant machine that moves more than $1 trillion every year and, for too long, it has answered more to permanent bureaucrats than to the taxpayers who fund it. OMB’s proposed overhaul of Part 200 would restore a basic principle of republican government: Public money should be spent for lawful public purposes by officials who answer to the American people.
Federal grants can serve legitimate public purposes, from medical research and disaster relief to roads and public safety. But a system this large, diffused, and insulated from voters is also an open invitation to waste, ideological capture, and bureaucratic abuse.
The federal funding system has become sprawling, complex and increasingly detached from meaningful public scrutiny. The Biden administration showed how quickly those weaknesses could be weaponized. Taxpayers were pressed into financing drag shows in Ecuador, critical race theory training, radical gender programs, and grants that rewarded institutions for parroting diversity, equity, and inclusion dogma. The problem was bigger than a few outrageous awards. The grant bureaucracy had become a quiet but powerful arm of the woke and weaponized administrative state.
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