From rare disease research to emergency housing supports, federal grant money supports a range of programs and services. Funding goes to state governments–who rely on federal funding for 20 to 50 percent of their annual budgets–as well as nonprofit organizations, universities, small businesses, and individuals. Grant terms and use can be broad and allow for significant recipient discretion, as is the case with Block grants to state and local governments. They may also be very narrow in scope, as with Project grants, designed to support specific activities with significant discretion from the federal administrator. A grant’s obligation, the total amount agreed to be paid by the federal government, may be paid out over a number of years. As such, expected grant money is routinely built into government and organization budgets.
Recently, the stability of federal grant funding has been called into question, an uncertainty which could have weighty impacts on D.C.’s economy. Nonprofits, for which over half of federal grant money in D.C. is designated, account for over 25% of the District’s private employment.
Currently, outstanding federal grant money in D.C.–excluding funds from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services– tops $2.9 billion.[i] Of the $2.9 billion, 53% is designated for 501(c)(3) nonprofits, 42.5% for the D.C. government, and 3.5% for private universities. In total, there are 230 open grant contracts worth $1.5 billion to 501(c)(3) organizations, 176 worth $1.2 billion to the D.C. government, and 178 worth $104 million to private universities. Approximately $13 million across 106 contracts is outstanding to the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority (WMATA),[ii] the DC Housing Authority, and DC Public Schools (DCPS).
Looking exclusively at federal grants with published end dates, over $580 million is scheduled to be disbursed by January 2030.[iii] Notably, as individual grant payment schedules are not readily available, some or even most of that money may be scheduled for disbursement in advance of the grant end date. As such, this estimate is conservative–at least $580 million is scheduled to be disbursed in the next five years.
There is $1.5 billion in federal grant funding in D.C.’s fiscal year 2025 operating budget, or about 7% of the total. Including Medicare and Medicaid funding, that percentage jumps to nearly 25%. Federal grants are also responsible for over 4,000 full-time employees in the budget, and it is unclear what percentage of this funding has already been received. Excluding Medicare and Medicaid funding, approximately 23% of the federal funds are designated for the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), and approximately 12% are designated for each of the Department of Health, the Department of Human Services, and the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency. The grants cover a range of issues including tuition assistance, opioid emergency response, and solar panel subsidies.
Data appendix
[i] The total outstanding federal grant funding was calculated using data from USAspending.gov. This estimate excludes any funds awarded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. Only awards categorized as Project Grants, Formula Grants, or Block Grants were included.
[ii] The District of Columbia may be left responsible for gaps in WMATA funding, as failure to “make required payments to any entity established under an interstate compact to which the District of Columbia is a signatory” is grounds for Congress to trigger a control board over the District’s government. An interstate contract would include Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Compact.
[iii] Disbursement schedules for each grant are not publicly available. For the purposes of this calculation, each grant’s current outstanding funds (total obligations minus total outlays) are included in the cumulative total until the grant’s end date.