The Trump administration is overseeing federal grants through a multi-pronged strategy that centralizes political control over the grant-making process. Key developments include: **Executive Order and OMB Rule Changes** - President Trump's August 2025 executive order "Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking" initiated this overhaul. - The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), led by Russell Vought, released a 412-page proposed rule in late May 2026 to implement these changes across all federal agencies. - The rule revises the Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200) and is open for public comment until July 13, 2026. **Centralization of Political Control** - **Pre-issuance Reviews:** Agency heads must designate senior political appointees to conduct a "pre-issuance review" of all discretionary grants before they are awarded. This replaces the traditional reliance on apolitical expert peer review, which becomes merely advisory. - **Policy Alignment:** The stated goal is to ensure grants align with presidential priorities and to eliminate what the administration calls "woke" policies, specifically prohibiting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) considerations in grant decisions. **Expanded Termination Powers** - The proposed rules make it easier for agencies to terminate grants, aligning termination rules more closely with those for federal contracts. Agencies can terminate grants at their discretion if it is deemed in the "best interest" of the agency, signaling a shift from remedying non-compliance to penalizing it. **Other Significant Changes** - **International Collaboration:** International research collaborations would be disfavored and allowed only on a case-by-case basis. - **Conference and Publication Costs:** Costs for attending conferences require express pre-approval, and grant money cannot be used for publication costs unless specifically mandated or approved. - **Fixed Amount Awards:** The use of fixed amount awards and subawards would be eliminated to increase transparency and oversight. **Immediate Impact: Funding Holds** - In a concrete example of this oversight in action, the White House Office of Management and Budget is currently withholding more than $2 billion in education grants, including funds for after-school programs and teacher training, pending review to ensure they align with the administration's priorities. **Criticism and Concerns** - Scientists, advocacy groups (like Stand Up for Science and the Union of Concerned Scientists), and university representatives warn that these changes replace scientific merit with political loyalty tests, risk silencing politically inconvenient research, and could give politically connected industries veto power over research. They also note the unusually short 45-day comment period for such sweeping changes. In summary, the Trump administration is overseeing federal grants by centralizing approval authority with political appointees, expanding termination powers, and restricting grant uses to align with specific presidential priorities, marking a significant departure from the traditionally decentralized, peer-review-driven system.