Last updated: June 10, 2026
On May 29, 2026, the Office of Management and Budget released a proposed rule to update the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance; 2 CFR § 200).
These proposed revisions would codify and expand on various executive orders and memoranda issued since January 2025.
Proposed Changes
The proposed changes to the Uniform Guidance would impact many areas relevant to federal awards, through:
- Expanded agency discretion in funding decisions;
- Expanded agency abilities to suspend and terminate grants;
- Changes in allowable and unallowable costs on grants;
- Restrictions on international collaboration and expanded reporting and monitoring of subrecipients;
- Elimination of fixed amount awards and subawards.
The proposed rule will not impact indirect cost (F&A) policies.
Impacts
The changes, if implemented, would have a significant impact on all recipients of federal grant funds, including WSU. The rule would increase administrative burdens and risk for federal grant recipients.
Response
The proposed rules are not final and are currently in a public comment period.
The Office of Research and other relevant areas are working with the Office of External Affairs and Government Relations to craft an institutional response on behalf of WSU. WSU is also working with the State of Washington, national organizations, and peer institutions to align and strengthen collective responses aimed at improving the final revisions.
The WSU Federal Relations team in D.C. will continue to keep members of our congressional delegation informed of any potential negative impacts of the proposed changes.
WSU will submit comments on behalf of the institution. If you choose to submit personal comments on the proposed revisions, remember that state and federal law prohibits the use of public resources—including university computers, university email, office supplies, equipment, professional titles, and work time—for personal advocacy efforts, political campaigns, or lobbying activities that are not directly related to official university business.
Resources
For summaries and analysis of the proposed changes, these external resources are provided for informational purposes.
- OMB Proposed Rule on Uniform Guidance: Immediate Considerations for Research Institutions (PDF) joint brief from the Association of American Universities (AAU), the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), and COGR
- Resources on OMB’s Proposed Changes to Federal Funding from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU)
- OMB Proposed Revisions to the Uniform Guidance: Key Takeaways for Award Recipient Organizations from Ropes and Gray LLC