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ADVOCACY ALERT: ACT NOW. Threat to science as we know it – Key Changes in OMB’s Proposed Federal Financial Assistance Rule, Comment Period Deadline July 13th

Proposed changes to OMB’s Federal Financial Assistance Rule will have immediate and drastic impacts on scientists, universities, scientific societies, patient advocacy organizations, state governments, and the scientific endeavor. OMB is proposing complete political control of federal science funding. 

Act Now! The public comment period closes approximately on July 13, 2026. This is your chance to have your voice heard. Comments must be submitted to regulations.gov, Docket OMB-2026-0034. 

Highlights of the proposed changes include: 

1. Political appointees take control of grant awards,
2. Peer review is no longer binding,
3. “Gold Standard Science” is an undefined political test,
4. Active grants can be terminated at any time, for any reason,
5. DEI, gender research, and related topics banned as grant conditions,
6. Broad prohibition on international scientific collaboration,
7. “Domestic-First” framework for research awards,
8. Applications can be denied based on organizational “affiliations,”
9. E-Verify mandated for all grant recipients,
10. OMB claims direct binding authority over all agencies,

Conference Attendance and Related Costs

11. Conference attendance now requires express agency pre-approval, 
12. Professional memberships require prior approval and must be “necessary,”
13. Publication costs and open access fees presumptively unallowable, 
14. Public communications and outreach severely restricted, 
15. New “Issue Advocacy” prohibition, 

Notices of Funding Opportunities: New Restrictions and Controls

16. Program goals must “align with administration policies and priorities,” 
17. Agency heads can exempt grand competitions from public notice, 
18. OMB gains direct oversight of which institutions receive grants. 

Further details on each item above can be found here.