Transition in Government Administration and Agency Leadership

Updated as of Feb. 5, 2025

Funding

We continue to advise projects with existing obligated funding to proceed with their planned project activities. Many federal grants are funded in increments, meaning each budget year the federal agency sends a grant amendment obligating the next year's funding.  We are seeing a pause in federal agencies issuing funding increment amendments. We do not have guidance from the agencies on when incremental funding will be released. Please monitor the current end date and obligated funding on your active projects while agencies determine their path forward. Please reach out to [email protected] if you have any questions.

Data access

If you encounter issues accessing federal data repositories in your research or teaching activities, please contact [email protected] and share the relevant details. We have not received guidance from our federal partners regarding issues around access to data, but we will continue to monitor the situation.

Updated as of Feb. 3, 2025

Two court cases challenging the Executive Orders and the Office of Management and Budget's temporary pause continue to develop.  Agencies are notifying PIs today about a Temporary Restraining Order.  This restraining order states that:

  • All federal agencies cannot pause, freeze, impede, block, cancel or terminate any awards or obligations on the basis of the OMB memo or on the basis of the recent EOs,
  • Foregoing prohibition applies to all awards or obligations, and
  • Agencies may continue to exercise their own discretion to pause awards or obligations in compliance with the award or agreement and not based on the OMB memo or the recent EOs. (For example, an agency may pause an existing award for failure to comply with the terms of the award.)

Although this order lifts the general pause on reviewing proposals and issuing awards, we continue to see delays in the grant review process and agency communications.

Payments are now processing as normal, including the NSF payment portal.  

Updated as of Jan. 29, 2025

The Office of Management and Budget memo temporarily pausing new and existing grant funding was rescinded in its entirety by OMB on Jan. 29.  This means federal funding on new and existing grants is expected to continue unless the funding agency explicitly indicates otherwise.

 

As we continue to monitor and assess the changing federal landscape, our continued guidance is for our researchers and faculty to continue their research, education and outreach work as specified in their existing agreements unless the government agency has explicitly instructed otherwise.  Please continue preparing and submitting proposals according to agency deadlines as most proposals continue to be accepted by agencies.  If a stop work order is received, please forward to [email protected] for OSRAA to work with the agency on compliance with the order.  General instructions from agencies (e.g. NSF email to PI's on 1/28) to stop certain activities (e.g. Implementations of the Executive Order prohibiting DEI activities) are expected to be followed with agency guidance specific to each project.  It is not clear at this time how these instructions will impact each project until the agency provides instructions on changing scopes of work and rebudgeting procedures.  

Updated as of Jan. 28, 2025

The university is actively assessing a recent memo from the Office of Management and Budget to all agencies to temporarily pause new grant activity. Agencies are required to review funded projects and funding opportunities. It is our understanding that a late-breaking court order provides a reprieve to Feb. 3, 2025, from the OMB temporary pause on these programs and then a longer-term court decision is expected. If enacted the temporary pause, which may be subject to legal challenges and congressional action, impacts the issuance of new awards, disbursement of federal funds for open awards and other relevant agency actions that may be related to recent executive orders. In addition to the pause on new grant activity, OMB also directs federal agencies to pause activities associated with open Notice of Funding Opportunities, such as conducting merit review panels. Any programs not connected to the recent executive orders are not subject to this pause. The university will provide additional guidance as we gather more information. Read the OMB memo published by the Washington Post.

Federal Administration Transition Guidelines 

As with any new federal administration, the Division of Research and Innovation gathers information and plans for how the university will adjust or respond to any potential impacts on sponsored research funding, operations, policies and commitments. Please check this page frequently as we incorporate new guidance from federal agencies and relevant information from new executive orders.

Frequently asked questions about proposals:

Will the administrative transition delay deadlines for grant proposals?

Sponsor proposal submission and review timelines may be extended while federal agencies navigate pauses on federal assistance funding in specific areas. The Office for Sponsored Research and Award Administration will continue to submit all proposals as we are able. Please keep a close watch on deadlines related to your opportunities.  

How will the transition impact the funding opportunities and agencies I work with?

Agencies are going through a process to align their funding opportunities with the current administration's priorities. We expect these funding templates to be updated, and then new opportunities will be posted.   This timeline may vary among different agencies and different funding opportunities.  Please pay close attention to opportunities and their changing deadlines, especially for federal funding that is required to be expended this federal fiscal year (prior to 9/30/25).

How else could proposal submission be impacted? 

Proposal review panels may be delayed which could result in delayed funding decisions, and site visits for ongoing projects could be delayed or cancelled. Please keep in close communication with your sponsor program director. 

Frequently asked questions about awards:

Why are some agencies pausing new awards?

Some agencies have paused issuing new awards or amendments in order to align funding decisions with the current administration's priorities. 

What is the status of my award?

OSRAA continues to process all awards and amendments that are received.  You can check to see if your award has been issued to OSRAA by checking this web page.

Could funding be paused on my project?

Yes, some federal agencies are pausing disbursement of federal funds. Some federal agencies may rescind funding opportunities or consider changing the scope of current awards that were aligned with the past administration’s priorities. As new agency requirements for active funding opportunities are announced, we will attempt to track them below:

Date Agency Update
Feb. 3, 2025 DOJ

A Temporary Restraining Order has been issued stating that federal agencies cannot pause, freeze, impede, block, cancel or terminate any awards or obligations on the basis of the OMB memo or on the basis of recent EOs. This order applies to all awards and obligations. Agencies may continue to exercise their own discretion to pause awards or obligations in compliance with terms of the award or agreement.

Jan. 29, 2025 OMB The OMB memo temporarily pausing new and existing grant funding was rescinded in its entirety by OMB on Jan. 29. 
Jan. 28, 2025  OMB Issued a directive to federal agencies to temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all federal financial assistance. Each agency must pause: (i) issuance of new awards; (ii) disbursement of federal funds under all open awards; and (iii) other relevant agency actions that may be implicated by the executive orders. Read the OMB memo.
Jan. 27, 2025  DOE  Announced it is immediately ending PIER Plan requirements. Read the announcement.

Should research continue for existing projects?

Researchers should continue to work on their grants and contracts as specified in their existing agreements unless their agency or program officer instructs them otherwise.  

What happens if I receive a stop work order?

Existing projects may receive full or partial stop work orders to terminate project work that is in violation of executive orders. This should come as a formal announcement from the federal grants officer, and then be followed by a formal amendment. If a stop work order is received, please forward it to our email address: [email protected]. OSRAA can assist in compliance with the agency directive.

As this is a rapidly changing environment, you may also receive instructions directly from your program officer.  Information from program officers will likely be followed by formal grant amendment from the federal grants officer, so it is prudent to follow their guidance quickly on new agency requirements.   

Frequently asked questions about invoicing and payments:

Will agencies pause payment on my project?

Maybe, the vast majority of federal sponsored projects are invoiced after OSU incurs the expenses.  Although some agencies have paused payments, we expect most agencies to continue to allow the ability to invoice and receive reimbursement. 

What should I do if I am near the end of my project’s current budget period?

Please monitor spending on projects nearing the end of their current budget period but are expecting a new budget increment to be issued by the agency.  Additional budget increments may be at risk of being delayed or not being issued.  



If you have any questions or come across information not covered on this page, please reach out to OSRAA at our email address: [email protected] 

 

More information on federal administration changes can be found at: 2025 Administration Transition Information & Resources | Council on Governmental Relations