INFORMS Open Forum

Good evening INFORMS members –

I have several important updates to share with you from Washington this week.

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Proposed Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance

As you may know, OMB has proposed a new rule that would significantly reshape federal grantmaking by increasing centralized oversight of award decisions, changing the role of peer review, expanding grounds for suspension or termination, and adding new restrictions on international collaboration. For INFORMS members and the broader research community, the urgency is that these changes could affect how federal research grants are reviewed, awarded, managed, and continued beginning in FY2027.

* INFORMS has submitted comments to OMB on the proposed rule, including recommended changes to several sections. You can read INFORMS comments here.

** The American Physical Society (representing more than 50,000 physicists in academia, national laboratories, and industry in the United States and around the world) has an excellent site that INFORMS members can use to construct your own individual comments on the proposed rule. Visit https://www.aps.org/initiatives/advocate-amplify/policy/federal-grants-rule-change to learn more. All comments are due by July 13, 2026.

Related to the Office of Budget and Management (OMB) Proposed Rule

• House Science, Space, and Technology Committee press release: Ranking Member Lofgren Calls for the Reversal of Changes Made to NSF Award Policies
• Related resource- National Science Foundation (NSF): Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG)
• Read the full letter here. 
• Senate Appropriations Committee press release: Senate Democrats urge OMB to rescind proposed federal grantmaking rule
• Read the full letter here.
• House Appropriations Committee (past hearing on June 30): Oversight Hearing - Office of Management and Budget
• Witness: OMB Director Russell Vought 
• Watch the recording here. 
• Senator Jim Banks (R-IN) letter: A Dear Colleague Letter in Support of the Proposed OMB Rule (google drive link)
• National Postdoctoral Association resources- 
• Press Release on OMB Proposed Rule Impacting Federal Funding
• NPA Four-Step Approach to the Proposed OMB Rulemaking
• American Institute of Physics Webinar: What the Proposed OMB Uniform Guidance Means for Science (past event recording)

 

Congress

• House Science, Space, and Technology Committee press release: Ranking Member Lofgren Pushes for Public Hearing on Jim O'Neill as Next NSF Director
• Read the full letter here.

 

Federal Agencies

• National Institute of Health (NIH) notice: Request for Information on Measuring and Rewarding Scientific Impact
• Related resources- NIH:
• Strengthening Replication and Reproducibility of NIH-funded Research
• Leading in Gold Standard Science
• Comments must be submitted here by August 19, 2026.

 

In The News 

• The New York Times: Decline of Ph.D. Admissions Could Imperil a 'Generation of New Talent' (subscription required)
• AIP FYI: Federal Funding and Visa Uncertainty Shape Fall 2026 Graduate Admissions in Physics and Astronomy
• Nature: Have people stopped trusting science? The data tell a surprising story
• Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC): New ASTC survey shows gaps between public support for science and understanding of how science is impacted by federal actions
• Nature: Inside the new political screening that's stalling NIH grants
• Associations Now: HBCUs Form Association to Promote Research

As always, I will continue tracking these and other developments and sharing updates relevant to the INFORMS community.

Best regards,

Jeff Cohen

P.S. If you want to get more involved in or learn more about INFORMS advocacy and public relations efforts, please reach out to me at: jcohen@informs.org

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Jeffrey M. Cohen, MBA | PhD Candidate
Chief External Affairs Officer
INFORMS
jcohen@informs.org
linkedin.com/in/jmcsc
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