UW Research

October 16, 2025

Federal Government Shutdown News & Updates 2025

Federal Shutdown Update

10/16/2025 Sent to MRAM, a similar message was shared with faculty.

The Federal shutdown has continued for two weeks. At this two week mark, UW leadership has reviewed Federal payment activity as well as advance spend balances. The University of Washington will not be taking measures to reduce operations or halt work on federally funded sponsored programs. No change is made to the advance spend policy in place.

This decision is subject to change if the shutdown continues into the later part of October.

Federal Government Shutdown- Proposals, Awards, and Post-Award

10/01/2025 Sent via all active PIs and MRAM.

Federal legislation has not passed to fund the federal government beyond September 30, 2025 and the government is effectively shut down. We are hopeful that our government will resolve this issue quickly.

As communicated yesterday, while the University of Washington has liquidity to navigate a short term shutdown, current federal policy volatility may present a range of outcomes that could differ from previous federal shutdowns we’ve experienced. Should a shutdown extend beyond two weeks, the University may take measures to reduce operations and communicate accordingly.

How will we continue to share information during a federal shutdown?

Award Specific:

Award specific communications are set up in SAGE, and Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) will forward this to the PI and eGC1 Administrative Contact.

If subawards are issued on any grant/contract with a stop work order, the OSP subawards team is putting into place necessary actions to suspend. You do not need to submit a subaward request to do this.

General information from a specific agency:

Agency specific information is being collected and will be posted to the UW Office of Research 2025 Federal Shutdown webpage as we learn more.  Review the Resources for links to federal agency information.

If you don’t hear anything specific from your sponsor, review the following General Guidance.

General Guidance

During a Federal Shutdown:

Most federal agency operations will cease during a federal shutdown. Expect a lack of federal communications related to your proposals and awards. Federal agencies may temporarily stop making payments.

OSP and GCA will continue with business as usual within the constraints created by unavailable federal sponsor systems and staff.

OSP’s and GCA’s goals are to process items received to the extent possible.
If a shutdown is prolonged, OSP may return requests that cannot be processed to the department until the shutdown is over.

Federal Sponsor Applications

Use the sponsor’s posted sponsor deadlines to calculate your GIM 19 deadline until further notice.

We will provide details on specific sponsor systems used for proposal submission, as they become known. If federal sponsor systems have been shut down, applications will be submitted once these systems are back online.

If a PI chooses to use this time to refine the scope of work and delay submission until sponsor systems are back up, they may do so at their own risk. In this case, the PI should contact their OSP reviewer and request OSP return their eGC1.

Awards

    • Federal awards will not be issued during the federal shutdown.
    • Awards that were received by the UW prior to the shutdown can continue to be processed.
    • Awards that have been issued a UW Workday Award number can begin or continue work unless notification was received from the sponsor such as a “stop work” order or suspension notice.
    • Cooperative agreements could be affected if federal participation is required, but not available.

Advance Spend

GCA will continue to process ADV requests for federal awards. As with all advance spending, the department assumes the risk of nonpayment on expenditures incurred during the advance time period. Please see updated Federal Advance Spend Guidance.

Extensions

For existing SAGE Award Modification Extension requests that require processing in sponsor systems, OSP will review and hold onto the MOD. The OSP reviewer will add a note in the Comments and History section until sponsor notification/approval processes are available. Please hold onto any new requests you may have until federal sponsor systems and staffing are available.

Campus can continue to submit Award Modifications in SAGE for Temporary Internal Extensions. OSP and GCA will continue to process these requests.

Post Award

GCA will continue to process and submit sponsor invoices, reports, draws and closeouts per usual, to the extent sponsor systems are available to do so.

Other Post Submission/Post Award Requests

For other requests not yet in OSP, please wait until federal sponsor systems and staffing are available and use the standard process.

Please forward any communications received related to a shutdown and your federal awards to osp@uw.edu.

Federal Government Shutdown Possible 10/01/2025

9/30/2025: Sent to all active PIs and & MRAM

The Offices of Research and Finance, Planning and Budgeting are closely monitoring the likelihood of a federal government shutdown after midnight tonight, 9/30/2025.

We are hopeful Congress will resolve the situation soon. While the University of Washington has liquidity to navigate a short term shutdown, a shutdown at this time coupled with continued federal policy volatility could present a range of outcomes that may differ from previous federal shutdowns we’ve experienced. UW leadership is preparing for a variety of scenarios.

What to expect during a shutdown:

  • Federal agency staff will not be available for approvals, support or administrative functions.
  • At this time, there is uncertainty as to whether federal agencies will pause active federal grant and contract activities.
  • Impacted federal sponsors may or may not decide to suspend application submissions. Please check for announcements on agency websites.
  • Study sections, review panels, site visits and other review activities will likely be cancelled or postponed.
  • If a stop work order is issued on an award, please review GCA’s Executive Branch Actions guidance.
  • In the event a sponsor’s financial reporting system is temporarily unavailable, GCA will submit all impacted financial reports as soon as the system is restored and operational.
  • Impacted federal agencies may temporarily stop making payments.
  • Expect delays, lack of communication and support from impacted federal agencies.

We will continue to provide more information and guidance relative to the shutdown and sponsored programs as it becomes available.

Please also pay attention to our Guidance on Federal Administration Research Policy.

Resources

Federal Agency Information

Page Revisions

10/01/2025 – Shutdown announcement added. Resources updated throughout the day.