{"id":21629,"date":"2026-06-23T19:53:42","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T19:53:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/?p=21629"},"modified":"2026-06-23T19:53:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T19:53:43","slug":"omb-proposed-federal-grants-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/2026\/06\/23\/omb-proposed-federal-grants-rule\/","title":{"rendered":"Action Alert: Comment on the OMB\u2019s Proposed Federal Grants Rule"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-background-background-color has-background has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">ESA Action Alert: Comment on the OMB\u2019s Proposed Federal Grants Rule <strong>by July 13<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-cb86e2b6 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7387b849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Members of the ecological community are encouraged to submit public comments on a sweeping proposed rule that, if finalized, would fundamentally change how federal research grants are awarded, administered and terminated in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On May 29, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a proposed rule called <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.federalregister.gov\/documents\/2026\/05\/29\/2026-10817\/regulation-for-federal-financial-assistance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance<\/a><\/em> that directs dozens of changes to the regulations governing all federal grants and cooperative agreements. This is not a routine update. If finalized as written, the rule would:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/90\/2026\/06\/speech-bubble-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21647 img-fluid\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1;object-fit:cover;object-position:39% 41%\" srcset=\"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/90\/2026\/06\/speech-bubble-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/90\/2026\/06\/speech-bubble-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/90\/2026\/06\/speech-bubble-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/90\/2026\/06\/speech-bubble-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/90\/2026\/06\/speech-bubble-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The comment period closes July 13th.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Give political appointees veto power over peer review<\/strong>, requiring a senior political appointee to personally approve every discretionary grant and explicitly stating that peer review recommendations are \u201cadvisory\u201d only<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Allow active grants to be terminated at any time<\/strong>, with minimal justification, if an agency determines the work no longer aligns with current administration priorities<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Restrict conference attendance and publication costs, <\/strong>requiring advance agency approval for researchers to attend scientific meetings or pay open-access and journal publication fees<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Prohibit or restrict international research collaborations, <\/strong>banning the use of federal funds for work involving countries designated as foreign adversaries or under US sanctions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Effectively ban entire categories of research <\/strong>from federal funding, including work using disparate-impact analytical frameworks crucial to environmental justice, public health and climate adaptation and mitigation science<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"padding-right:0;padding-left:0\">For ecologists, the stakes are high. Ecological research depends on impartial peer review; long-term, multi-year datasets; international partnerships monitoring biodiversity, climate and ecosystem change; and open scientific exchange at conferences and in scholarly journals. These provisions, taken together, would erode the independence of the scientific enterprise by inserting political judgement into funding decisions that have historically rested on scientific merit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background-background-color has-background has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">The public comment period closes <strong>July 13, 2026<\/strong>. Your voice matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-background-color has-primary-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-4c1be349bb58bd01fa33c7851f7e0f16 is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-af9672fb wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to submit your comment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Submit your comment directly at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.regulations.gov\/document\/OMB-2026-0034-0001\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Regulations.gov<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-3e41869c wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button has-custom-width wp-block-button__width-50\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-secondary-background-color has-background has-medium-font-size has-custom-font-size wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.regulations.gov\/document\/OMB-2026-0034-0001\" style=\"border-top-left-radius:1px;border-top-right-radius:1px;border-bottom-left-radius:1px;border-bottom-right-radius:1px;box-shadow:var(--wp--preset--shadow--natural)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">REGULATIONS.GOV<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Strong, individualized comments carry far more weight than form letters. Here are tips for making your comment as impactful as possible:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Be specific. <\/strong>Reference section numbers where you can, beginning each portion of your comment with the relevant section number in brackets (see the American Astronomical Society\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/aas.org\/posts\/news\/2026\/06\/omb-proposed-rule\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">analysis of relevant sections<\/a> of the proposed rule).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Tell your story. <\/strong>You are speaking for yourself (not for ESA), so describe how a specific provision would affect a grant you hold or have held, a collaboration you depend on or research you could no longer conduct.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Quantify the harm where you can.<\/strong> Include dollar amounts, timelines, study or postdoc positions at risk or data collections that would be lost.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Connect to the public good.<\/strong> Explain what society loses if this research slows or stops.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Describe administrative burdens.<\/strong> Note the added time and cost of new compliance requirements like advance case-by-case agency approvals for publications and conferences.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ESA will be submitting its own formal comments, but comments from working ecologists, on their own behalf, describing in concrete terms how these provisions would affect federal research are among the most powerful inputs the agency must consider under the Administrative Procedure Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here are some additional resources to help you draft your comment:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aps.org\/initiatives\/advocate-amplify\/policy\/federal-grants-rule-change\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The American Physical Society\u2019s comment tool<\/a> that helps users craft and submit personalized comments on the proposed rule to regulations.gov<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/esa.org\/public-policy\/get-involved\/policy-toolkit\/make-a-public-comment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ESA\u2019s guidance on submitting public comments<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/agu.quorum.us\/campaign\/163877\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The American Geophysical Union\u2019s Action Center<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/aas.org\/posts\/news\/2026\/06\/omb-proposed-rule\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Context and analysis of the proposed rule<\/a>, from the American Astronomical Society<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eenews.net\/articles\/trump-targets-science-in-ombs-grants-revamp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Coverage of the proposed rule from Politico<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background-color has-tertiary-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color has-large-font-size wp-elements-2b0095a310e01a141827b382cd9a8cc3 wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\"><strong>Please submit your comments by <\/strong><br><strong>11:59 pm ET on July 13.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Comment on a sweeping proposed rule that would change how research grants are awarded, administered and terminated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":2164,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ecology-in-policy","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21629"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21662,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21629\/revisions\/21662"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}