President Trump sitting in the oval office and holding up an executive order with his signature on it. He has a determined and stoic look on his face.
Image Credit: The White House from Washington, DC

President Donald Trump has ordered a sweeping review of federal funding for all nongovernmental organizations—including thousands of domestic nonprofits doing everything from providing shelter and meals to protecting survivors of domestic violence— in order to “stop funding to NGOs that undermine the national interest,” according to a White House memorandum issued on Thursday.

The memorandum states, in full:

SUBJECT:     Advancing United States Interests When Funding

Nongovernmental Organizations

The United States Government has provided significant taxpayer dollars to Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs), many of which are engaged in actions that actively undermine the security, prosperity, and safety of the American people. It is the policy of my Administration to stop funding NGOs that undermine the national interest.

I therefore direct the heads of executive departments and agencies (agencies) to review all funding that agencies provide to NGOs.  The heads of agencies shall align future funding decisions with the interests of the United States and with the goals and priorities of my Administration, as expressed in executive actions; as otherwise determined in the judgment of the heads of agencies; and on the basis of applicable authorizing statutes, regulations, and terms.

“Dismantling these organizations will not just diminish the United States here at home and around the world, it will cost lives.”

Much of the nonprofit sector, already reeling from recent White House maneuvers, appeared to still be taking in the news Friday; but some leaders have already mounted a response to this latest development.

“Today’s White House memo is the latest in a troubling series of attacks on nonprofit organizations working, in the United States and around the world, to provide food, shelter, and housing, eradicate disease, combat human trafficking, provide healthcare and early education, and much more,” said National Council of Nonprofits President and CEO Diane Yentel in a statement.

“Let’s be clear: the security, prosperity, and safety of the American people that the Memorandum expresses concern about are enhanced by the work of nonprofits and NGOs. Removing this vital funding or dismantling these organizations will not just diminish the United States here at home and around the world, it will cost lives,” the statement continued. “The work that nonprofit organizations do day in and day out to meet their lofty missions touch all of our lives, in each of our communities, and are truly what makes America great in the eyes of the world and at home.”

The memorandum is just the latest earth-shaking piece of news from the White House for the nonprofit sector. In late January, the Trump administration announced an attempted freeze of all federal grants and loans, including many billions of dollars in funding already appropriated by Congress to US organizations.

The administration’s justification for freezing funding was based, as the memo read, on a desire for “ending ‘wokeness’” and preventing “the use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism,” and a variety of other causes.

The following day, a coalition of nonprofits, including the National Council of Nonprofits (NCN) and Democracy Forward, sued the administration, successfully obtaining a restraining order in federal court.

The nonprofits argued in their complaint that many nonprofits still reported being unable to access promised federal funding, despite the apparent “rescinding” of the controversial memo.

“There isn’t a way for the nonprofit sector to end 2025 in a neutral place.”

In a briefing hosted by NCN on Friday, Yentel reflected on the precarious state of affairs.

“2025 will be a tremendously consequential year for the nonprofit sector….There isn’t a way for the nonprofit sector to end 2025 in a neutral place,” said Yentel. “We’ll either end this year on a spectrum of harm, somewhere from somewhat harmed to potentially decimated, or we’ll end it strengthened and not just in spite of but because of these challenges we face.”

 

Follow Isaiah Thompson on Bluesky @isaiahthompson.bsky.social.