Since taking office for a second term, President Trump has issued a wave of executive orders attempting to place conditions on how recipients of federal funding can speak and associate. Contemporary First Amendment doctrine is confusing and even incoherent on the question of when the government may regulate speech by imposing conditions on federal funding. The Supreme Court has said that Congress has broad power to tax and spend for the general welfare, and that this power encompasses the authority to impose limits on the use of the funds to ensure that they are used for the purpose Congress intends. At the same time, the First Amendment precludes the government from denying a benefit on a basis that infringes the applicant’s freedom of speech, even if the applicant does not have an entitlement to that benefit.

The Knight Institute’s research initiative on federal funding and the First Amendment engages legal scholars and litigators from varying backgrounds. Through a convening and a series of blog posts and essays, this project will consider constitutional questions about federal funding restrictions and how they apply to the Trump administration’s executive orders.