Big Changes Proposed to the Use of Federal Grants
The Office of Management and Budget is preparing a Rule that would make substantial changes to the awarding, management and use of federal grants, such as limiting the use grant funds to pay for dues or attend conferences. The rule would also give any administration broad discretion to withhold, suspend, or change grant terms mid-performance.
We are notifying members now so you can prepare and submit comments for this rule. The deadline for submitting comments is July 13th.
Resources and Information.
- ASAE has prepared an initial summary, below, and will soon provide a detailed analysis and comments on the rule. We will pass it along as soon as it is available.
- We’re sharing a comment letter on the Rule from CalNonprofits, a sister association representing 501(c)(3) organizations.
- OMB-2026-0034, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance. This page shows details of the proposed rule and the portal to submit comments.
ASAE Summary on OMB Rule or Federal Financial Assistance.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has proposed a significant revision to the government-wide rules governing how federal grants are awarded, managed, and spent.
The proposals would also create significant new administrative burden for both agencies and grant recipients while making the awarding process unpredictable, as awards would turn on undefined criteria and added layers of review.
Some provisions would affect associations whose members use federal grants to pay for the association's services, including new restrictions on membership dues, professional and academic subscriptions, conference attendance, journal and open-access publication charges, and a new category of unallowable "issue advocacy" costs.
Other provisions would affect associations that receive federal grants directly, including senior political review of awards before issuance, a new viewpoint-neutrality standard for event services, expanded "reputational" monitoring of subrecipients and affiliates, a ban on fixed-amount subawards, and broad authority to terminate awards at will.
By making membership dues, conference attendance, and journal publication charges unallowable or subject to advance approval, the proposals discourage the very inputs that make federally funded work effective: the associations that set standards and provide training and credentialing, the conferences where results are disseminated and the technical workforce is trained, and the publication of findings so that research the government funded gets used.
ASAE is continuing to analyze the rule and will file formal comments with OMB and provide tools for members to provide feedback on these provisions. For any questions, please email Kyle Hayes, Senior Director of Public Policy, khayes@asaecenter.org.