OMB's Proposed Rule Would Reshape Federal Grant Funding. Here Is What You Need to Know.
acoog advocacy
OMB's Proposed Rule Would Reshape Federal Grant Funding. Here Is What You Need to Know.
The comment period closes July 13, 2026. Physicians, educators, and researchers have a narrow window to respond.
On May 29, 2026, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published a proposed rule making sweeping changes to the government-wide processes governing grants, cooperative agreements, and other forms of federal financial assistance. The rule spans every federal agency. If finalized, it takes effect October 1, 2026, and applies to all new awards in fiscal year 2027.
The implications reach universities, research institutions, hospitals, nonprofits, state and local governments, individual researchers, and every organization receiving federal funding. Women's health research and medical education sit squarely in the path of these changes.
What the Proposed Rule Changes
Among other provisions, the proposed rule would:
- Ban federal funds for diversity, equity, and inclusion programs
- Require grant review by political appointees and reduce scientific peer review to an advisory role
- Allow the Administration to cancel previously awarded grants deemed out of step with shifting Administration priorities
- Make publication costs, conference attendance, and professional organization memberships unallowable without advance approval
- Strictly limit international research collaboration
Why This Matters for Osteopathic Women's Health
For more than 80 years, federal research funding has run on merit-based, expert-driven review. This rule replaces expert judgment with political sign-off at every stage of the award process. Grants supporting maternal health, reproductive care, and physician training face new uncertainty at award, during performance, and after the money is spent.
The cost provisions hit physicians directly. Under the proposed rule, a researcher needs advance written approval to publish findings, attend a scientific conference, or maintain membership in a professional society using grant funds. Membership costs are barred entirely when the organization's primary function is issue advocacy. These are routine, allowable costs today. Tomorrow they become obstacles between clinicians and the education, evidence, and community sustaining quality care for women.
Two Ways to Act Before July 13
1. Submit a formal comment. File through regulations.gov under docket OMB-2026-0034. Every comment enters the official record and carries legal weight if the rule is challenged. Personal stories about how these changes affect your patients, research, and training programs matter most.
2. Contact your members of Congress. Share the impact of the proposed changes and urge them to oppose the rule.
Sample Language for Your Message
Use this as a starting point for a call or email. Personalize the bracketed sections. A specific example from your own practice or research makes the message stronger.
Dear [Senator/Representative Last Name],
I am a constituent and a [physician / medical educator / researcher] in [city, state]. I am writing about the Office of Management and Budget's proposed rule, Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance, published May 29, 2026 (Docket OMB-2026-0034).
This rule would place political appointees above scientific peer review, permit cancellation of grants already awarded, and block routine research costs including journal publication fees, conference attendance, and professional society memberships. It would also restrict the international collaboration behind so much progress in women's health.
In my own work, [one or two sentences on how federal funding supports your patients, research, or training programs].
I urge you to publicly oppose this rule and press OMB to withdraw it. American medicine depends on a grant system built on scientific merit, not political alignment.
Thank you for your attention to this issue.
[Your name and credentials]
The Comment Period Closes July 13, 2026
Your voice enters the official record. Speak now for women's health research and physician education.
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