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Month: July 2026

Sen. Collins Asks OMB to Withdraw Parts of Grant Rule, Extend Comment Period

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Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, sent a letter yesterday to White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, asking him to extend the comment deadline for OMB’s proposed revisions to Uniform Guidance by 45 days and to withdraw portions of the rule. Collins specifically objected to the following provisions:

  • Allowing federal agencies to terminate discretionary grants at any time without an appeal process opportunity
  • Requiring senior political appointees to approve grants, noting “this additional review for awards that have already been selected through a scientific, merit-based peer review process would undermine the objective that the Federal government fund scientific and biomedical research projects based on scientific merit and value, rather than political ideology.”
  • Requiring agencies to consider the president’s policy priorities when administering grants, Collins argued that the proposed rule fails to “ensure that consideration of the President’s policy priorities does not supersede congressional intent for the administration of these awards.”

In her letter, Collins asked OMB to withdraw these provisions, among others, and to extend the comment deadline to 90 days.

Proposed Uniform Guidance Changes

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On May 29, 2026, the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published a proposed rule in the Federal Register that would substantially revise 2 C.F.R. Part 200, commonly referred to as the “Uniform Guidance”, which applies to federal grants, cooperative agreements and other types of federal assistance funding.

If finalized, the proposed rule would significantly impact federal awards, including requiring political appointee review of grant decisions, restrictions on who applicants may work with, expanded rights the federal government has in modifying or terminating awards, and much more. Because these changes have significant implications for federally funded research, the University and UW Medicine are compiling an institutional response to the federal government. 

Please use the University’s “Uniform Guidance – Proposed Changes” form (UW NetID required) to provide your comments to University leadership to support the University’s official response to OMB. Your feedback and examples of impacts will inform our official UW response, and comments are still being accepted.

As a member of the public, you may also comment directly to OMB; however, OMB will consider only one comment per institution. Therefore, if you choose to submit comments to OMB in an individual capacity, you should state your experience generically (e.g. a faculty member in at a large public university) but do not mention your affiliation with the University of Washington.

Additional analysis from APLU can be found here: Summary of Uniform Guidance Issues.