Updates on Federal Actions Related to Research

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

Last updated February 11, 2026.

 

Open Forum for Research

The next open forum for research will be on February 18 at 12:30 p.m. via Zoom. It will not be recorded. We plan to discuss federal updates related to national security in research, as well as provide continued updates on the federal environment and any further insights on the FAIR model for indirect costs if available

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.

Back to Top

Recent Federal Actions

Past Federal Actions
Statements in Response to Federal Actions

Back to Top

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

Back to Top

Tracking Terminations and Appeals

  • Grant terminations received: 19, totaling $1.5 million
  • Change from previous week: 0
  • Relevant agencies: NEA, NEH, NSF, Department of Education, Department of Energy, Economic Development Administration
  • 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 2/11.

Back to Top

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, February 11, 2026.

We are pleased to announce that the community-initiated project to provide $2.98 million to the Ballmer Institute for Children’s Behavioral Health—requested by Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden as part of the federal funding “minibus” bill that included the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and related agencies—has been enacted into law. As we noted in our last message to the research community, the Center for Advanced Materials Characterization in Oregon (CAMCOR) received $3 million through a similar community-initiated project (also thanks to efforts by Senators Wyden and Merkley), securing for the UO nearly $6 million in congressionally directed funding for FY26.

Federal Budget Implications for UO Research

With the exception of the Department of Homeland Security, the federal government has been funded for FY26. Congress declined to implement the large cuts initially proposed by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in its “skinny budget” (released in May 2025). Instead, federal agency budgets largely remained flat compared to the prior year or decreased marginally by amounts much smaller than OMB’s proposed cuts. The cuts to federal research and development funding in aggregate amount to a 0.2% decrease from FY25 (some departments, like Defense, saw an increase in funding).The Association of American Universities provides a brief analysis of how agency budgets changed. 

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) provides a more detailed report (dated February 3; some of the funding bills that were pending as of the report’s writing have been passed). Full details of “H.R.7148 - Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026” are available on the Congress.gov website.

Additionally, language embedded within some of the minibus bills blocks flat caps on indirect costs (also known as facilities and administrative, or F&A) like that of a 15% cap proposed in February 2025—at least for the remainder of the federal fiscal year. The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities has compiled a list of provisions and report language related to indirect costs reform. However, the court battle concerning the legality of an across-the-board cap on indirect costs is not over.

Monitoring Indirect Costs Rates and the FAIR Model

The Financial Accountability in Research (FAIR) Model, proposed by the Joint Associations Group, is the most widely endorsed alternative to the current indirect costs model in which universities independently negotiate their F&A rates with the federal government. The Chronicle of Higher Education recently featured an article that delves into the development of the FAIR model in detail. Additionally, AAU has made available a report that demonstrates that universities subsidize a substantial portion of indirect costs and at a lower effective reimbursement rate compared to private industry and national labs (one of the chief complaints leveled against university F&A rates was based on the assumption that university effective rates are much higher than those of private industry, which the above linked report refutes).

Next Research Open Forum February 18

The next open forum will be February 18 at 12:30 p.m. via Zoom. It will not be recorded. We plan to discuss federal updates related to national security in research, as well as provide continued updates on the federal environment and any further insights on the FAIR model for indirect costs if available.

Prior Emails

Back to Top