2025 has felt eerily similar to 2020—only more divided and chaotic. With government funding reductions and broader challenges facing nonprofits, especially those rooted in DEI-focused work, I found myself instinctively reaching out to fellow nonprofit leaders just to check in. But it quickly became clear that we all needed more.

Kate Hewitt, Executive Director of 21st Century Leaders

The DOJ issued a directive to begin civil and criminal investigations of NGOs and other private companies engaged in "illegal" DEI work

Secretary Turner announced in a press conference that HUD would immediately halt any pending or future enforcement actions related to HUD’s 2016 Equal Access Rule.

A federal judge has blocked efforts to cut the NIH’s “indirect costs” in the funding it provides to research grants by 50%.

On Monday, February 3rd, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted a temporary restraining order of the OMB’s freeze on federal grant disbursements that has put essential services across the nation in jeopardy in response to a suit filed by Democracy Forward on behalf of the National Council of Nonprofits, the American Public Health Association, Main Street Alliance, and SAGE.

The recent directive from the White House to temporarily freeze federal grants and loans has created uncertainty and concern for many organizations that rely on federal funding to sustain vital programs. This is what we know and what we recommend.