Dear ASIP Members,
By now, I’m sure everyone has heard about the new proposal from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that will revise the Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance (OMB-2026-0034). The proposed changes are sweeping and will likely cause significant harm to the research enterprise if fully implemented. The new rules would politicize the grant making process across all Federal Agencies (including the NIH and NSF), would diminish the important role of study section peer review of grants, and could penalize investigators based upon their institutional affiliations. There are also significant implications for the ASIP and other professional Societies, our journals, and our scientific meetings. OMB intends to implement these new regulations by October 1, 2026. Hence, it is critical for us to make our voices heard now!
With this communication, we encourage everyone (no matter your career stage) to become informed about the proposed regulations, provide comments to the OMB, and contact your representatives in Congress. The links below will assist you with this task.
OMB-2026-0034 Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance
Full proposal – https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/05/29/2026-10817/regulation-for-federal-financial-assistance
Keep in mind that some of the proposed changes may not impact on the NIH or other sources of federal biomedical grant funding. Comments provided to OMB on specific proposed changes will be more impactful than general comments. Excellent overviews of the proposed regulations can be found on the web, and these overviews will assist you in identifying the changes that might impact your research directly. Here are a few that are concise and well written:
Stand Up for Science Foundation Overview of Proposed OMB Regulations – https://www.standupforscience.foundation/policy-and-advocacy/blog-post-title-two-t5my5-k4xmd-4tbkf
Elizabeth Ginexi – Summary of Key Changes in OMB’s Proposed Federal Financial Assistance Rule – https://elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/summary-of-key-changes-in-ombs-proposed
Elizabeth Ginexi – What We Need To Do NEXT: OMB’s Proposed Federal Financial Assistance Rule (OMB-2026-0034) – https://elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/what-we-need-to-do-next-ombs-proposed
The proposed new regulations were submitted on May 29 and we are in a 45-day comment period. Hence, comments need to be submitted by July 13 (unless an extension is provided). To-date, nearly 15,000 comments have been received. We are not providing a proposed text for your comments as numerous identical comments will not have the same impact as an equal number of unique comments.
Here is a Guide to Writing Public Comments from the Stand Up for Science Foundation – https://www.standupforscience.foundation/policy-and-advocacy/the-sufs-guide-to-writing-public-comments?utm_source=PR_1&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=OMBComment
Regulations.gov Website for making comments – https://www.regulations.gov/document/OMB-2026-0034-0001
In addition to making comments related to the proposed regulations, it is also important to contact your representatives in Congress to express your opinions about the proposed regulations. Members of Congress may be able to exert pressure on OMB related to the proposed regulations or might choose to provide legislative relief to these regulations. Links to email or phone numbers to call your representatives in Congress can be found here:
Stand Up for Science Foundation Action Center – https://fight2win.standupforscience.net/?utm_source=PR_3&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=ActionCenter
Please feel free to contact me if you have questions or comments.
Sincerely and thanking you in advance,
William B. Coleman, Ph.D.
Executive Officer
American Society for Investigative Pathobiology
wbcoleman@asip.org
