How Actions from 2025 Will Impact Grants Management in 2026

The year 2025 may be remembered among the grants community as one of the most tumultuous in history, as the enforcement of priorities under the second Trump administration led to the termination of many grants nationwide, multiple lawsuits challenging agency policies and controversy over attempts to cap indirect cost rates.

President Trump issued numerous executive orders (EOs) in 2025, and federal agencies currently are implementing new administrative policies in notices of funding opportunities and within grant program requirements to address these directives. In light of one of these orders — EO 14332, Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking — the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is expected to issue proposed revisions to the uniform guidance in 2026, which bodes to politicize the grant selection process, and make it easier for the federal government to terminate grants and scrutinize indirect costs.

This whitepaper goes into more depth as to how these actions from 2025 are expected to influence grants oversight during 2026.