Knight Institute initiative on ‘Federal Funding and the First Amendment’ draws leading scholars and litigator

On Friday, May 23, the Knight Institute will host a closed convening at Columbia University to explore 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 the funds are used for the purpose Congress intends. At the same time, the Court has made clear that 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.

This convening will bring together a group of legal experts to consider these two principles and understand how they might apply to executive orders issued by President Trump that attempt to place conditions on how federal funding recipients can speak and associate. The convening is not open to the public, but participants will write short notes in advance of the event, and these will be published on the Institute’s website.

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