Contact: Adam Ortega adam.ortega@treatmentactiongroup.org
June 18, 2026 — The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the direction of Russell Vought is seeking a regulatory blessing to use Federal grant funding as a tool for political extortion, violation of due process, and further undermining of scientific integrity. Targets include scientists, institutions, organizations, States, cities, and other recipients who might fail an extreme right-wing, Christian nationalist, anti-science political litmus test.
The current administration has already demonstrated its desire to use taxpayer dollars to extort adherence to their political ideology and delusional bigotry regarding the biology of sex, leading to multiple lawsuits and notable losses in court.
The proposed regulations are a clumsy, voluminous attempt to circumvent the law based on bogus claims about the authority accorded to OMB by Congress. The move dispenses with any notion of honor or integrity – grantees can have funds whisked away from them with no advance notice, as happened to USAID recipients and other Federal grantees in early 2025. This is an attempt to inflict a callous evil, including the destruction of the scientific research enterprise in this country and it must not stand.
The proposed changes would take effect at the beginning of the next fiscal year on October 1, 2026, in advance of the midterms, suggesting Vought is aiming to increase the difficulty of rolling them back.
TAG joins the many voices demanding that these proposed regulations be withdrawn and that Congress legislate to fully foreclose the possibility of such colossal abuse of the Federal grant system.
The proposal is open for public comment until at least July 13, 2026 and multiple advocacy organizations have generated helpful guides on how to submit (e.g. see the Stand Up For Science website). The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) have created an online form to facilitate contacting your legislators to urge them to take action.
We encourage everyone who is concerned to submit public comments that can be used in support of future litigation even if they’re ignored by the administration.
A resource from the Planetary Society breaks down the many egregious policy changes contained in the lengthy document. To adapt the summary shared by IDSA/HIVMA:
- Political appointees, not expert agency staff, would make grant determinations; for research this means peer review would be easily overridden
- Alignment with administration policies would be prioritized over scientific merit (as determined by peer review), public health needs and evidence-based clinical standards and guidelines
- Active grants could be terminated at any time, for any reason
- Broad prohibition on international collaborations, which are essential for scientific progress
- Prohibits grant funding for any activities related to diversity, equity and inclusion or anything that contradicts the administration’s false and ignorant anti-science diktat that denies the existence of transgender people and posits sex as a strict binary
- Bans disparate impact research assessing whether supposedly neutral policies cause harm
- Tightly restricts use of grant funds for scientific conferences and professional memberships by requiring approval; and would prohibit use of grant funds for publication costs
- Grant applicants could be denied based on affiliation with organizations that the Administration deems “anti-American” and/or for the vague offense of “engaging in issue advocacy or public messaging that promotes or opposes a particular social, political, or public policy position”
Selected statements, editorials, and calls to action from other sources:
ACTION ALERT: Research in Peril – AVAC, June 3, 2026
This new OMB Rule Is Bigger Than Science. Much Bigger – Elizabeth Ginexi, June 1, 2026
Another red alert for American science – H. Holden Thorp, Science Magazine, June 2, 2026
AAAS Statement on OMB Rule Politicizing Federal Grantmaking – American Association for the Advancement of Science, June 2, 2026
Strong, independent science is critical to advancing public health and saving lives – The American Heart Association, June 2, 2026
ASBMB statement on OMB Proposed Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance – American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, June 3, 2026
AIBS Statement on OMB Proposed Rule on Federal Financial Assistance – The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), June 4, 2026
Trump administration has its sights set on destroying international research collaborations – Jocalyn Clark, International Editor, BMJ, June 10, 2026
The Murder of Expertise – Lisa Needham, Public Notice, June 11, 2026
The OMB and the Politicization of Science – The Editors, New England Journal Of Medicine, June 15, 2026
Alliance Discussion: Responding to OMB’s Proposed Rule – Research!America, June 17, 2026
Comment on OMB Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance – Stand Up For Science Foundation
About TAG: Treatment Action Group (TAG) is an independent, activist and community-based research and policy think tank fighting for better treatment, prevention, a vaccine, and a cure for HIV, tuberculosis, and hepatitis C virus. TAG works to ensure that all people with HIV, TB, and HCV receive life-saving treatment, care, and information. We are science-based treatment activists working to expand and accelerate vital research and effective community engagement with research and policy institutions.
