House pauses OMB grantmaking rule

The House on Tuesday passed a stopgap spending bill that would temporarily block the Office of Management and Budget from putting a controversial federal grantmaking overhaul into effect through Dec. 11. The measure, which had already passed the Senate, now goes to President Donald Trump, who said last month he would sign it into law, according to the American Institute of Physics. The dispute centers on OMB’s proposed rewrite of 2 CFR Part 200, the Uniform Guidance that governs how federal grants are awarded, managed and closed out across the government. OMB and more than 40 agencies published the proposal on May 29, with an original target effective date of Oct. 1, the start of fiscal 2027. (aip.org) ### What exactly did the House freeze? The Sept. 1 House vote would block rules “arising out of” OMB’s notice of proposed rulemaking, or “substantially similar” rules, until at least Dec. 11, AIP reported. That means the administration’s government-wide grant rule cannot take effect on its original schedule if the funding bill becomes law. (grantedai.com) The Aug. 10 Senate measure used the same short-term spending bill to keep agencies funded through Dec. 11 and to pause the grant rule. AIP said the House vote adopted that approach rather than advancing a separate science-policy fix. ### Why did the OMB rule trigger such a backlash? OMB’s May 29 proposal would rewrite the rulebook used by virtually all federal grant recipients, from universities to nonprofits and state agencies. (aip.org) Granted AI said the proposal would make the biggest changes to the Uniform Guidance since its 2013 consolidation. (aip.org) The most contested provisions would require senior political appointees to review discretionary awards before funding is finalized and test whether grants “demonstrably advance the President’s policy priorities,” Granted AI reported. AIP said critics argued the plan would give political appointees unprecedented control over grantmaking decisions and restrict how researchers use grant funds. (grantedai.com) OMB had reviewed almost 165,000 comments on the proposal as of Sept. 2, AIP said. The office did not respond to AIP’s request for comment on how the House-passed bill affects its timeline, though AIP reported that OMB Director Russ Vought has said the office will not implement the rule until Jan. 1. ### Does this settle the issue for science agencies like NSF? (grantedai.com) The Dec. 11 pause does not necessarily stop agencies from moving pieces of the overhaul into their own regulations. AIP reported that the funding language’s effect on similar revisions at agencies such as the National Science Foundation and the Department of Education remains unclear. (aip.org) NSF has already proposed changes to its own grantmaking regulations, including revisions aligned with OMB’s proposed termination provisions and publication-cost restrictions, AIP reported. Krystal Toups, director of contracts and grant administration at COGR, told AIP that NSF could still move ahead with its separate rulemaking even if the spending bill becomes law. (aip.org) Granted AI made the same broader argument in earlier analysis, saying the congressional freeze would delay the OMB rule rather than defeat the underlying policy push. That assessment is an interpretation by Granted AI, not a government statement. (aip.org) ### Why are universities and labs watching this so closely? Federal grant rules determine who can approve awards, what costs are allowable and how easily agencies can end projects. Because those rules shape hiring, subcontracting, publication spending and project planning, changes at OMB or agency level can affect day-to-day research operations; that is an inference from the scope of the Uniform Guidance and the specific NSF provisions AIP described. (grantedai.com) Scientific American reported that the House measure paused planned changes to the federal science grantmaking process after broad criticism from the scientific community. AIP quoted Colette Delawalla, founder and chief executive of Stand Up for Science, calling the House vote “a win” while adding that “it is the first step” and that opponents would continue pressing for the proposal to be revoked. (grantedai.com) ### What happens next before Dec. 11? Dec. 11 is now the next clear deadline in the fight over the rule, because the stopgap bill funds the government only through that date and blocks the OMB overhaul only through that period. Congress will need either new spending legislation or another temporary measure before then, while OMB and agencies such as NSF can continue working through their own rulemaking processes in the meantime. (scientificamerican.com) (aip.org)