Updates on Federal Actions Related to Research

This webpage is dynamic and updated frequently. Please check back often.

Last updated June 3, 2026.

 

Open Forum for Research

The next research open forum will be on Friday, May 15, at 11:00 a.m. We will be joined by Betsy Boyd, senior associate vice president for federal affairs, to discuss federal advocacy related to the National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences, as well as updates on the FY27 federal appropriations process. Christy Long, associate chief information officer and chief of staff for the chief information officer, will discuss high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure, including recent investments and plans to sustain our HPC resources on campus, as well as state-wide strategic planning for computing and AI.

View prior open forum slides. 

Guidelines for the Research Community

The Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation (OVPRI) continues to monitor the 2025 presidential administration transition. Below are some helpful guidelines.

  • Closely monitor obligated budget balances to avoid deficits while awaiting future obligations. Anticipated future funding remains subject to availability of funds and should not be considered guaranteed.
  • If you are waiting to hear back from a program officer, please be aware they may not be able to respond during the agency communications pause.
  • Ensure all technical reports and deliverables are submitted by their due dates and prioritize the submission of any that are past due.
  • Monitor policy updates: Keep an eye on announcements from the federal agency overseeing your grant for any updates on funding or compliance requirements.
  • Principal investigators are encouraged to ensure that they have access to and control over datasets.
  • Continue to submit proposals. Closely monitor the funding announcement to see if the proposal criteria changes.
  • OVPRI and the Office of General Counsel ask that you forward any communications from granting agencies relating to stop work orders, modifications to existing grants, requests for attestations, and spending justification requests.

OVPRI has adopted a process to appeal the termination of contracts and grants by federal agencies (requires DuckID to log in).

Additionally, the UO continues to monitor and communicate any immigration updates, and their potential impact to our international, Dreamer, and undocumented students, faculty, and staff.

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Recent Federal Actions

Past Federal Actions
Statements in Response to Federal Actions

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Resources for Researchers

Please note this page is dynamic, and information could be incomplete.

At this time, the Council on Government Relations (COGR) is providing the most complete guidance on how the executive orders could affect operations, including a summary of executive orders. COGR's mission is to empower an unparalleled US academic research ecosystem by advancing sound federal policies and regulations that are vital to US science and innovation leadership and our nation’s health, security, and prosperity. Request access to the COGR membership portal.

The Chronicle of Higher Education is tracking the actions of President Trump's administration that affect higher education. Chronicle of Higher Education's Trump's Agenda for Higher Ed Tracker (sign in with your DuckID to access Chronicle content)

The Chronicle is also tracking the development of an indirect costs (also known as facilities and administrative, or F&A) model. Read more about the Financial Accountability in Research (FAIR) model (requires UO VPN or account to access).

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has compiled a fiscal year (FY) 2026 research and development appropriations dashboard. It compares the White House, House, and Senate spending proposals for science and technology programs in FY 2026.

The Association of Public & Land-grant Universities (APLU) provides an overview of appropriations priorities annual requests and a summary of the FY26 President’s Budget Request.

APLU’s Office of Governmental produced a detailed analysis of FY26 funding levels for the association’s priority accounts spanning research, student aid, and other federal programs. 

APLU also maintains a tracker compiling F&A language across all FY26 appropriations bills. 

FAQs for Researchers

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Tracking Terminations and Appeals

  • Grant terminations received: 20, totaling $3.7 million
  • Change from previous week: 1
  • Relevant agencies: NEA, NEH, NSF, Department of Education, Department of Energy, Economic Development Administration, DHHS
  • Active appeals: 0
  • Terminations lifted: 13 (NIH: 11; NSF: 1; Corporation for National Community Service: 1), totaling $6.4 million

These figures are current as of 4/14.

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Email Updates

The following message was sent to graduate students, tenure track and research faculty, department grant administrators, OVPRI centers and institutes, core facility staff, Government and Community Relations, Office of General Counsel, and OVPRI staff on Wednesday, June 3, 2026.

Last week, the White House Office for Management and Budget (OMB) released a proposed rule to update the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards or Uniform Guidance (found at 2 C.F.R. § 200). This proposed rule would establish baseline requirements for federal programs, including research grants. These requirements would govern how awards are issued, approved, managed, monitored, or canceled.

Uniform guidance provides a common set of rules governing most federal grantmaking. In the past, uniform guidance has served to reduce agency and recipient burden throughout the grant application, review, and award process. However, OMB’s proposed rules would create sweeping changes that effectively mandate political oversight of grants and potentially create a way around Congressional budget authority. APLU has provided a very helpful summary of impacts to research from the proposed changes, which include merit review of proposals (with proposed changes increasing the role of appointees in final decisions), new grant-acceptance conditions based on DEI-type criteria, along with many other changes that will significantly impact how the federal government assesses proposals and provides financial assistance via grants and cooperative agreements.

OMB indicated it would like to issue a final rule that would put the proposal into effect at the beginning of the next fiscal year on October 1, 2026. As we have done in the past, the UO will work with the national associations such as the Association of American Universities (AAU), the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), and other associations like COGR to assess the proposal and inform comments that the associations provide to OMB in response.

Providing Public Comment

Providing comment on the proposed rule is entirely at the discretion of the individual and it should be made clear in responses that individuals are sharing specific perspectives of potential impacts to their academic discipline or job function and not on behalf of the UO. Many professional societies are coordinating advocacy campaigns to coordinate response, which is another way to bring attention to individual or group concerns without providing a public comment.

Comments are due by Monday, July 13 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

 

Prior Emails

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