A Troubling Development in Federal Grantmaking
On Aug. 7, President Trump signed an executive order (EO) titled, “Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking,” which significantly changes how federal agencies review, approve, and manage competitively awarded grants. This EO is consequential, so be prepared for a few details below:
- The EO creates new political oversight procedures: political appointees must sign off on both grant announcements and individual awards, and they will conduct yearly reviews to ensure grants align with administration priorities and demonstrate progress.
- Under the EO, preference will be given to institutions with lower facility and administrative costs, and grants can be terminated “for convenience” (for reasons other than misconduct or noncompliance).
- The EO includes several cases in which grant funds cannot be used. For example, grant dollars cannot be used to “fund, promote, encourage, subsidize, or facilitate… racial preferences or other forms of racial discrimination by the grant recipient… [or] denial by the grant recipient of the sex binary in humans or the notion that sex is a chosen or mutable characteristic…”
- The EO also adds new paperwork and review requirements for accessing grant funds.
For a full breakdown of the changes, see Arnold & Porter’s analysis here.
We will host a special alliance member-only meeting on Zoom at noon ET on Tuesday, Aug. 19, to look at the implications of this consequential EO together. If you are affiliated with a Research!America alliance member organization, email Jacqueline Lagoy for the registration link.
On the Hill: Congress is working from their home states and districts this month; it’s the perfect time to advocate for robust federal research funding. If you haven’t joined our August Advocacy Challenge yet, it’s not too late! There’s still plenty of time to rack up points and secure a spot in the top five!
This week’s easy win: Log five points on your scorecardfor each of your lawmakers’ e-newsletters you sign up for — that’s five points per senator + five points for your House representative. Go for the full sweep and you could bank 15 points in one shot.
Use our quick directions guide to identify your legislators and find their newsletter sign-up pages. In less than five minutes, you’ll be earning points, staying in the know, and climbing the leaderboard toward those top five prizes. Ready, set… subscribe!
Tap into our advocacy toolkit, packed with tips, templates, call scripts, sample social media posts, and more. It has everything you need to make your voice heard this August. Let’s make every point count!
Bonus Challenge: Spotlight Your Advocacy! This week, we’re announcing a new opportunity for advocacy: filming a short video about why medical research is important to you. Your video may be featured on Research!America’s social media platforms, in advocacy materials, or as part of a community compilation video. Review this guide and upload your short video through our Google form to help us spotlight why research matters. If you do not have a Google account, you can follow the instructions here to email in your video.
Want to boost your reach? Post your individual video on social media, tag Research!America, and use #RAAugChallenge. You’ll inspire others and score additional points toward the challenge.
CBER Leadership: Over the weekend, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that Dr. Vinay Prasad has returned to the FDA to once again lead the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER). CBER is responsible for regulating important biological products, including gene and cell therapies, vaccines, and blood products.
A Costly – and Deadly – Mistake: Josh Caplan, the director of government affairs at AcademyHealth, details in an alarming blog post that research needed to address costly and even deadly weaknesses in health care delivery has ground to a halt at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Reportedly, reductions in force have hamstrung the agency to such an extent that not a single grant has been approved since April 1. Read Josh’s blog post and watch this space for advocacy opportunities.
Register for the National Health Research Forum: Registration is now open for Research!America’s 30th Annual National Health Research Forum: The Pulse of Progress, taking place virtually on Sept. 3 and 10, and in person on Sept. 17. To kick off the Forum on Sept. 3, we’ll provide two virtual sessions for early career researchers and other interested parties. On Sept. 10, we’ll host a discussion about the current federal legislative and policy landscape for medical and health research.
Join us – you can register for one or two sessions, or all four here!
Interested in partnering with us for this event? Check out sponsorship opportunities here or contact Kristen Furlong.
Join Research!America: If you haven’t already, join our multi-sector alliance! The membership process is straightforward, the benefits are compelling, and your participation informs and intensifies our community’s influence on and off Capitol Hill. Email Senior Director of Development and Membership Kristen Furlong for more information.