The New Trump OMB Rule: How People, Organizations Are Pushing Back

A new OMB rule from the Trump administration, "Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance," is sparking widespread concern. This rewrite of 2 CFR Part 200 grants political appointees unprecedented control over federal grantmaking, sidelining peer review. Key changes include elevating political power in funding decisions, allowing grant termination without justification, and increasing micromanagement of funds. Critics, including scientific and patient advocacy groups, warn this threatens scientific integrity, research, and innovation. The rule could impact $1.1 trillion in federal grants across all sectors, from science to education and infrastructure. The public comment period ends July 13, 2026, with calls for specific, impactful feedback. Some members of Congress also oppose the rule, fearing it will politicize grant processes and harm American innovation.

You may have heard a lot of OMGs on social media over the new OMB rule. In this case, OMB stands for the White House Office of Management and Budget. And the new rule from the Trump administration entitled, “Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance” has certainly gotten a lot of ”oh my goodnesses" and WTFs from different scientific organizations and patient advocacy groups. But ICYMI, the impact of this attempted rewrite of 2 CFR Part 200 could reach well beyond scientists, science, patients and health into practically all sectors of society.

That’s because this rewrite of 2 CFR Part 200 that came out on May 29 is essentially what The American Physical Society describes as “revising the entirety of federal grantmaking and federal cooperative agreements in America while allowing only a 45-day public comment period." So, you and the rest of the U.S., public have got only until July 13, 2026, to fully read, review, digest and comment on the document that’s detailing the changes. And the document is over a hundred pages long, way too long to read during a single toilet sitting. But the three biggest changes are as follows:

Elizabeth Ginexi, PhD, a health science consultant who served as a National Institutes of Health program officer for over 20 years, provided a summary of the changes in her Substack post that bore the sub-header, “Russell Vought is going to destroy American Science.” Vought is the Director of the OMB. And most of the changes will make it easier for the Trump administration to do what it has been trying to do since Trump took office as U.S. President for the second time in January 2025. That includes removing mentions of diversity, equity and inclusion terms and concepts from grants and projects, cutting funding for science, abruptly terminating scientific projects like clinical trials, and withholding funding from universities and other academic institutions until Trump administration demands are met, all of which I have been covering in Forbes. Such actions have faced legal challenges. But—and it’s a big but one cannot lie—it’s unclear how successful such challenges will be, especially with the Trump administration actively changing the rules.

Now, as I mentioned, so far, a lot of the OMGs have come from those directly affected by either NIH or National Science Foundation funding like scientists, healthcare professionals, patients and science advocacy groups. For example, the National Physical Society has stated that the “proposed changes would fundamentally alter the practice of science in the United States, undermining the system of peer review and international collaboration that has been central to making the U.S. a global leader in science, technology, and innovation.” Meanwhile, the American Association for Cancer Research has called it “a major threat to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its lifesaving mission to accelerate progress for patients with cancer and the hundreds of other diseases that afflict millions of Americans.” Research America has warned, ”Taken together, these changes would move the federal research funding system away from scientific merit, collaboration, and stability. The result would be slower scientific and medical progress, delaying the discoveries, treatments, cures, and public health advances that Americans depend on." Yikes.

But since 2 CFR Part 200 essentially covers all federal grants out there—all approximately $1.1 trillion of them—add to the alphabet soup of federal agencies that will be affected by this rule. Besides, NIH, NSF, CDC and HHS, you can throw in other acronyms such as NASA, DoD, DOE and NOAA. That, in turn, could end up affecting practically every human being in the U.S. in some way. So, assuming that you are a human and not a duvet cover or ficus plant, you may want to pay close attention to what’s happening.

In a post on LinkedIn, Ginexi gave examples of projects that "could be canceled mid-project because a political appointee decides it no longer serves ‘the national interest,’ with no explanation required and no appeal:

As mentioned earlier, July 13 is notable not only for being National Beans ‘N’ Franks Day. It’s also the deadline for the public to submit comments about the OMB rule. The public comments are important because the Trump administration will be required by law to respond to them, and any comments can bolster legal cases in the future. Plus, it is interesting to see what other people have said with over 70,000 comments submitted already.

If you’d like to comment in some useful manner about the OMB rule, though, don’t simply post something like “this”, “adulting” or “fur baby.” The Trump administration can simply ignore comments that lack substance, are simply copied and pasted from existing comments or appear generated by some kind of bot. Ginexi recommended citing specific section numbers in rule and describing your own situation as well as the following in her words:

Then there’s Congress—you know that third branch of all that checks and balances things written about in the U.S. Constitution. A question is whether Congresspeople are happy with more grant funding power being concentrated with the U.S. President and his appointees. Organizations such as 5 Calls and Stand Up for Science have been urging people to contact their Senators and Representatives. Representatives Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Suzan DelBene (WA-01) and Lori Trahan (MA-03), along with 122 of their colleagues, did write a letter to Vought in June 25, that stated, “We write in opposition to the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) disastrous and likely unlawful proposed rule that would devastate American health care innovation for generations.” The letter went on to say, “This alarming change would convert our venerable grant review process into a political obstacle course and insider’s game, irreparably damaging our nation’s leading health research institutions, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its grantees across the country.” But, naturally, what many members of Congress may do about the OMB rule will depend heavily on what they perceive their constituents to want.

I’ve been reaching out the contacts at various federal agencies and the White House for comment and provide updates on anything that I may hear. Regardless of your POV, though, you can OMG be sure that this new OMB rule will affect a lot of different things. So, TBH, you may want to have your voice be heard, otherwise you may suffer FOMO when dealing with the consequences.