It's a valid question. There have been lots of grants given out for Blockchain applications. I'm curious why this particular one is receiving attention from Hacker News. For example earlier this year DHS awarded 6 separate companies for Blockchain solutions[0], each of which were awarded $100,000. Some of them will probably move on to phase 2 and receive $800,000.
[0]:https://www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/news/2016/06/07/d...