Federal agencies would add senior review to discretionary grants

Each agency head must designate a senior appointee to oversee reviews of new funding announcements and discretionary grants. This covers agencies that have legal authority to award, offer, or manage federal grants, but excludes the Executive Office of the President. Reviews must follow applicable law and must not promise applicants any particular level of consideration. Funding announcements should use plain language, limit unnecessary application requirements, and avoid duplication with other agencies. Scientific research grants must receive review by at least one subject-matter expert. Until the review process is operating, agencies may not issue new funding announcements without the designated senior appointee’s approval, unless law requires otherwise. Agency heads must act promptly; the added approval requirement applies until each agency has put its review process in place.

Senior appointees must use independent judgment when reviewing discretionary grant announcements and awards. The direction covers discretionary grants, including research grants, but not entitlement, formula-based, block, or disaster-recovery grants. Awards must, where relevant, advance the President’s policy priorities and may not fund racial discrimination, denial of the human sex binary, illegal immigration, or initiatives described as compromising public safety or promoting anti-American values. Reviewers should favor lower indirect costs when proposals are otherwise equal and consider a wider range of recipients. Awards should set clear measures of success, and applicants should commit to administration policies on Gold Standard Science. Peer review may continue, but its recommendations remain advisory and do not bind senior appointees.

OMB must revise grant guidance, and agencies must work to add termination and spending-control terms to discretionary grant agreements. This covers existing and future discretionary grants, with exceptions for certain trade, CHIPS, infrastructure, and other specified agreements. The revised guidance must allow termination for convenience when an award no longer advances agency priorities or the national interest, subject to legal exceptions. Future agreements should require agency approval before recipients draw general funds for specific projects and should require written support for each drawdown. Implementation must follow applicable law and available appropriations. The order does not create an enforceable right or benefit for grant applicants or recipients. Within 30 days of August 7, 2025, agency heads must report on existing termination terms; agencies must include the new terms in future grants and amendments to the extent permitted by law.