Updates on Federal Executive Orders and Research Activities

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

Last updated July 30, 2025

 

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

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.

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

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.

FAQs for Researchers

Back to Top

Email Updates

The OVPRI plans to send weekly email updates on Wednesdays.

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, July 30.

The federal budget, indirect costs, and policy updates

Tracking Terminations and Appeals

  • Grant terminations received: 17, totaling $1.03 million
  • Relevant agencies: NEA, NEH, NSF, Corporation for National and Community Service
  • Active appeals: 13
  • Terminations lifted: 11 (NIH: 10; NSF: 1), totaling $6.1 million

These figures are current as of 7/30.

Dear colleagues,We continue to see an uptick in new awards coming in. Additionally, we’re excited to announce that, after substantial effort to develop and submit a proposal, the UO has received notice of a $2.7 million Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) award for what will be the first aberration-corrected, cold field emission scanning transmission electron microscope at any university in Oregon. This is the first time the MRI program has funded this leading-edge instrument at a research university.

Indirect Costs Models

As we reported several weeks ago, we continue to monitor the ongoing discussions about the indirect costs model (also known as facilities and administrative, or F&A) known as Financial Accountability in Research (FAIR), which was developed by the Joint Associations Group. It’s heartening to learn that of the three bills moving forward in the federal budgeting process, none proposes so low a cap as 15%. The FAIR model, for example, takes into account institution size, geographic location, and the regulatory compliance burden. We do not yet have resolution on this topic, but we remain hopeful.

Budget Tracking

Several months ago, the White House Office of Management and Budget published its “skinny budget,” which threatened deep cuts to funding agencies like the National Science Foundation, NASA, and the National Institutes of Health. However, on July 17, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the FY26 Commerce-Justice-Science bill, which provides $9 billion for the National Science Foundation and $24.9 billion for NASA, including $7.3 billion for NASA Science. This indicates that the Senate is likely attempting to preserve current funding levels for both agencies. Congresspeople on both sides of the aisle appear to be advocating for the immense value of research. AAAS is actively updating its FY26 R&D appropriations dashboard. 

NIH Policy

It has come to our attention that NIH recently issued a news release about the role of animals in research, including the prioritization of “human-based” technologies. The agency has announced it will no longer develop new funding opportunities focused exclusively on animal models of human disease. OVPRI will continue to track developments and keep our research community informed.

Finally, on July 24, more than 200 people joined a virtual round table about the impact of Institute of Education Sciences (IES) contract cancellations hosted by Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR). Participants consisted mainly of Capitol Hill staffers, research businesses, and advocacy groups plus university researchers and administrators. Professor Beth Stormshak was among the featured speakers participating. The Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to pass its funding recommendation for IES later this week.

Prior Emails

 

Back to Top