In theory, the Trump administration suffered a major setback this week when senators moved to block the White House’s plans to exert more control over federal funds.
In practice, little has changed for an administration that has played politics with the federal grantmaking process from Day One.
This week, the Senate unveiled a bipartisan compromise to keep the government open through December. Democrats celebrated one major concession from the Republican majority as part of that deal: It would block the White House from finalizing a proposed rule to give political appointees firm control over every federal dollar and empower the White House to cancel grants for any reason at any time.