The Lacuna Project

lacuna (n.) a gap in a record where something should be

Independent research. Not affiliated with any government, agency, or company.

Nonprofit

National Endowment for Democracy

Documented money flows

Findings that rest on exhibits naming this entity

  • POL-6.13: The National Endowment for Democracy Act of 1983 defines NED as a private nonprofit corporation that is not an agency of the U.S. Government, lists exchanges with "the two major American political parties, labor, and business" among its purposes, and subjects NED and its grantees to congressional oversight. The State Department paid NED congressional appropriations of $315,079,941 for fiscal 2022, $315,000,000 for 2023, $315,249,800 for 2024 and $315,860,780 for 2025.
  • POL-6.14: NED's Form 990 lists grants to its four core institutes, the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute, the Center for International Private Enterprise and the Solidarity Center, of $142.4 million in fiscal 2023 and $135.9 million in fiscal 2024, 39 and 38 percent of total expenses. The Republican and Democratic institutes received $39.2 million and $33.4 million in 2023 and $35.4 million and $32.8 million in 2024.
  • POL-6.15: In a Washington Post column of 22 September 1991, David Ignatius quoted Allen Weinstein, then head of the Center for Democracy, as saying, "A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA." The column describes overt funding as avoiding the backlash that exposed covert work produced.
  • POL-6.16: On 11 August 2025 a federal district court preliminarily enjoined the withholding of $95 million of NED's fiscal 2025 appropriation and found the stated reason for it not plausible. The State Department obligated NED's full $315 million fiscal 2026 appropriation in March 2026, and the government's motion to dismiss the suit as moot was pending on 9 October 2026. Executive Order 14169 paused new obligations of foreign development assistance for 90 days on 20 January 2025, and on 26 September 2025 the Supreme Court stayed an order to obligate about $10.5 billion of expiring aid without deciding the merits.

Exhibits naming this entity

  • Exhibit 834 22 November 1983. U.S. Congress: National Endowment for Democracy Act, 22 U.S.C. 4411 (findings and purposes), Pub. L. 98-164, title V
  • Exhibit 835 22 November 1983 (amended 1987). U.S. Congress: National Endowment for Democracy Act, 22 U.S.C. 4412 (grants to the Endowment)
  • Exhibit 836 22 September 1991. David Ignatius, The Washington Post: Innocence Abroad: The New World of Spyless Coups
  • Exhibit 837 Fiscal year ended 30 September 2023. National Endowment for Democracy: National Endowment for Democracy audited financial statements and Form 990, fiscal year ended 30 September 2023
  • Exhibit 838 Fiscal year ended 30 September 2024. National Endowment for Democracy: National Endowment for Democracy Form 990 and audited financial statements, fiscal year ended 30 September 2024
  • Exhibit 839 Fiscal year ended 30 September 2025. National Endowment for Democracy: National Endowment for Democracy audited financial statements, fiscal year ended 30 September 2025
  • Exhibit 840 Fiscal year ended 30 September 2022. National Endowment for Democracy: National Endowment for Democracy audited financial statements, fiscal year ended 30 September 2022
  • Exhibit 841 11 August 2025. U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Judge Dabney L. Friedrich): Memorandum Opinion, National Endowment for Democracy v. United States, No. 25-cv-648 (DLF), Doc. 46, 795 F. Supp. 3d 63
  • Exhibit 842 31 March 2026. U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (parties' filing): Joint Status Report and Plaintiff's Motion to Withdraw Preliminary Injunction Motion, National Endowment for Democracy v. United States, Doc. 70
  • Exhibit 843 17 July 2026. U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (defendants' filing): Defendants' Reply in Support of Motion to Dismiss, National Endowment for Democracy v. United States, Doc. 77