Take Action on White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) proposed Guidance for Federal Grantmaking

The Issue

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently proposed a revision to the Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance, updating regulations that dictate approval for, reporting and performance requirements for federal grant recipients. The proposed rule implements many of the changes President Trump announced in an executive order last August. Some of this grant guidance would significantly impact U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) which oversees U.S. biomedical research agencies including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and important diabetes prevention and education programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Take Action
Take action by submitting a comment on this proposal. To help you in submitting your own comment, below are step-by-step instructions and talking points as well as a copy of ADA’s Statement on the proposed rule.

Deadline to submit comments: July 13, 2026 by 11:59 p.m. EDT

Suggested Talking Points for Drafting Your Comment

• I am writing to express my concerns about Office of Management and Budget’s proposed changes to the Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance and how those changes could affect my [e.g. research, program, work].
• I am a [e.g. researcher, scientist, health professional, public health worker] at [e.g. University, health system, program] and these changes would directly impact my work.
• I am concerned about significant changes to the U.S. gold standard review process for scientific research, the future of U.S. innovation, and our scientific competitiveness and trust worldwide.
• The proposed changes would create significantly unstable grant funding process for research programs, investigators, staff and sponsoring institutions. These changes would allow for active grants to be terminated mid-award or the ability to cancel grants post approval. I am concerned about the broadening of OMB authority and discretion to exempt agencies from publicly posting grant opportunities. This change would drastically restrict awareness and access to federal funding, leading to fewer responses and narrowing the pool of potential grantees and awards.
• I am concerned about the proposed new restrictions on use of grant funds for conference attendance, professional membership, and journal publication costs, including open access fees. These changes would undermine scientific exchange, research advancement, and dissemination. These opportunities and tools are used by the scientific and research communities to enhance and grow scientific understanding.
• These changes would also undermine public health, chronic disease prevention programs and surveillance programs to track, monitor and manage chronic and infectious disease across the U.S.
• Our research, public health and disease prevention infrastructure supports jobs and economic health and wellbeing of our nation.

How to Submit a Public Comment

1. Visit https://www.regulations.gov/document/OMB-2026-0034-0001  or www.regulations.gov and search for OMB-2026-0034-0001. These will both take you to the Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance.
2. Select the blue “Comment” box.
3. If your comment is in a word document or PDF, you may copy and paste the contents in the open comment section or simply upload your comment as an attachment, along with any other supportive documentation/research you would like to share. If you choose to upload your document, write in the comment box: “Please see attached comments from [name/organization].” 
4. Check the rest of the boxes as needed.
5. You may also choose to receive a confirmation email of your submission and tracking number by adding your email address and clicking on the corresponding box. Your email address will not be shared publicly. If you choose to submit your comment anonymously, email confirmation of your comment will not be an option.
6. Submit your comment by 11:59PM EDT on July 13, 2026