The Threat to Federal Grants Under Trump’s FY26 Budget Request

While the grants community continues to experience the turmoil resulting from almost-daily policy changes on the federal level — from announced caps on future indirect cost rates to the cancelation of grants whose missions do not support the president’s priorities to federal agency staffing cuts (if not efforts to dismantle the agency altogether) — grantee planning for the administration of federal financial assistance, assuming it continues, and the operation of funded programs is rapidly becoming an ever-growing challenge. 

While grant applicants and recipients assess the current state of funding, a look at President Trump’s budget request for federal fiscal year (FY) 2026, with drastic funding cuts across almost every federal agency, does not hold much promise for many programs going forward. While the requested FY 2026 budget has not been adopted by Congress and still could meet various roadblocks, the following white paper offers the grants community a preliminary look into its potential impact on various grant programs. 

Fill out the form to the right to download this whitepaper.