The piece below examines how the Tides Center received large federal grants near the end of the previous administration, where that money flowed, and how the new administration moved to tighten grant oversight.
Federal grant records from 2024 show the Tides Center pulled in $37,810,397 in government funding, the largest annual haul in a decade and a sharp jump from $13,030,345 in 2014. Much of that cash came through government grants disbursed during the Biden years, and it went to groups and projects tied to progressive advocacy. For conservatives who care about limited government and accountable spending, those figures are alarming on their face.
The Center serves as a fiscal sponsor connected to the broader Tides network, and in 2024 it routed money to a variety of causes. Reported uses included funding for groups working on abortion access, affirmative action, and legal assistance aimed at helping undocumented immigrants leave detention facilities. Those expenditures reflect ideological priorities, which many taxpayers never agreed to fund.
A significant share of the Tides Center’s receipts—about $21.9 million—was passed to the Tides Foundation and an arm called Tides Advocacy, which is organized as a 501(c)(4). Tides Advocacy states its mission like this: “fiscal sponsorship and essential services, including financial, legal and personnel services, to nonprofit organizations that promote shared prosperity and social justice.” That mission line is explicit about the political bent of much of the activity the grants enabled.
In other instances, relatively small grants still carried controversial implications. The Tides Center gave $25,000 to the Alliance for Global Justice, an organization that has faced scrutiny for past ties to extremist groups and individuals sanctioned by federal authorities. Even modest-dollar transfers can enable groups whose agendas many Americans find troubling.
Another recipient, the Civil Liberties Defense Center in Oregon, took in $48,500 in 2024 and has specialized in defending protesters associated with Antifa and similar left-wing movements. That kind of legal support for disruptive activism shows how government dollars can underwrite litigation and organizing that many citizens view as hostile to public order. State-level and federal grants combined to bankroll a web of organizations that promote often-radical causes.
The Department of Labor granted the Tides Center $3 million for expansion of registered apprenticeship programs, and further awards totaling $5.9 million were reported as pending. Those workforce dollars, framed as job training, raise questions about program oversight when funneled through intermediaries tied to partisan activism. Accountability demands that apprenticeship money actually advance workforce outcomes rather than ideological projects.
Beyond domestic grants, the State Department and USAID quietly routed large sums to the Tides Center over earlier years—about $27 million between 2014 and 2022. Those foreign-aid and diplomacy channels often enjoy less public scrutiny, which makes it harder for taxpayers to trace how American dollars are used abroad and whether they further American interests.
When taxpayers learn public money is being steered toward causes they oppose, it breeds distrust in government. People expect federal grants to support neutral, civic-minded programs that deliver concrete benefits, not to become a slush fund for political advocacy. That erosion of trust is exactly why tighter rules on grantmaking are politically popular.
In response to concerns about ideological grantmaking, the new administration moved quickly to curb open-ended funding for organizations whose activities clash with the President’s policy priorities. An executive order requires agencies to prioritize grants that demonstrably advance those priorities, effectively shifting federal dollars away from programs promoting race-preferential policies, transgender initiatives, or immigration practices that lack clear legal footing. The order signals a broad change in how federal grantmaking will be reviewed and approved.
For taxpayers in states like Minnesota and across the country, the message is simple: federal grants should be cobbled together with clear oversight, measurable outcomes, and respect for taxpayers’ expectations. When nonprofit intermediaries turn grant dollars into political activity, Americans rightly demand a stop to that practice. The recent policy shift aims to make sure government money serves public purpose, not political activism.
Scrutiny of the Tides Center’s funding patterns underscores a broader lesson for government: if accountability and results are not baked into grant programs, taxpayers will pay for outcomes they never voted to support. That reality is reshaping how officials inside the federal bureaucracy approach grant awards and how citizens expect their money to be spent.
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