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.