A survival kit for federal grantees with Trump and DOGE fears.

You can't predict the unpredictable, but you can prepare for the worst if the Trump Administration and Elon Musk's DOGE team take a hard look at your award.

The past two weeks have felt like a year for federal grantees. After the sheer terror of their funding suddenly being on hold, they now wonder if there is anything they can do to keep their staff members paid and their participants taken care of.

Workforce grantees found themselves in a perilous place this week. Word spread Wednesday that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency team and their collection of Cybertruck-shaped cuttin’ knives were descending upon the U.S. Department of Labor.

Let’s see what we can do to help these grantees through a tough time. Below are a few steps I would take now before you hear from an agency official.¹

None of this will guarantee that your grant won’t get hit by these reviews. I’m not sure anyone—even the Trump Administration—can tell you who will get hit and how.

But the steps below are a good start for how to think about what’s ahead and put you in the best possible position.