Executive Actions and Federal Agency Updates
Guidance for University of Utah Research Administration
Recent presidential actions, including executive orders (EO), proclamations, and memorandums, may indicate changes in federal priorities, potentially affecting your current and pending projects funded by federal agencies or other sponsors.
As federal agencies and sponsors adjust to these changes, we will keep you informed.
Recommendations:
1. Review your award agreements
- Carefully examine your award terms and conditions and make sure you understand the terms, particularly those concerning funding availability and reimbursement.
2. Award Performance
- Performance, other than DEIA-related activities, should continue as long as funding is available, unless a stop-work order or official agency communication has been issued.
3. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA)
- UPDATE: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has rescinded its Jan. 27, 2025 memorandum M-25-13: Temporary Pause of Agency Grant, Loan, and Other Financial Assistance Programs and the OMB M-25-13 Clarification Memo.
- The president's Executive Orders and agency-specific guidance remain in effect. Any implicated federal award with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) activities should pause work on DEIA activities immediately including subrecipients performing DEIA work.
- Please continue to follow all agency directives, stop-work orders, and other official sponsor notices and directives.
- For active federal awards, OSP will be reaching out to PIs directly to provide additional information and discuss project impacts including subrecipient modifications.
- Expect that any DEI-related aspects will be removed from solicitations or not reviewed as part of the selection process.
4. Travel plans
- Travel in some federal awards may be immediately suspended even if an already awarded grant includes travel. Please avoid travel until further guidance is provided. If you have already made travel plans or were in the process of making travel, please contact your sponsor to determine if you need to suspend them until further notice.
5. Monitor budget balances:
- Keep a close watch on your budget balances to prevent deficits while waiting for future funding. Remember, anticipated funding is not guaranteed and depends on fund availability.
- Be sure that all billing and invoicing is current, including that of subrecipients.
- Anticipated future funding remains subject to availability of funds and should not be considered guaranteed. Researchers requesting preliminary projects and preliminary extensions should proceed with caution.
- Funds previously allocated for DEIA activities should remain unspent.
6. Submit reports and deliverables:
- Make it a priority to submit any technical reports or deliverables that are overdue or nearing their due date.
7. Stay updated on sponsor announcements:
- Stay alert for any updates from your award sponsors, and check the information below, regarding funding or compliance requirements.
8. Proposals
- Cayuse has confirmed that the Grants.gov submission service is still operational. Please contine preparing and submitting applications to any posted opportunities.
- Exercise discretion when pursing new federal opportunities, as submission dates may change, or the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) could be withdrawn and revised.
VPR National Updates Meeting: "Navigating the Next Research Frontier: Expectations
and Opportunities"
On Tuesday, February 4th, the Office of the Vice President for Research (VPR) invites all faculty, staff, post-docs, and students to a National Updates Meeting via Zoom focused on navigating the next research frontier. Erin Rothwell (Vice President for Research) will be the presenter.
Date: Tuesday, February 4, 2025
Time: 12:00 – 1:30 pm MT
Information & Registration
NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
- VPR Update on Federal Funding (1/29/2025)
- VPR Update on Federal Funding: Supporting the Research Community (1/28/2025)
- VPR Update on Federal Funding (1/27/2025)
FEDERAL AGENCY SPECIFIC UPDATES & GUIDELINES
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has issued a January 29, 2025 notification requiring DEI Activities cease on CDC Awards.
According to the letter the University must :
Immediately terminate, to the maximum extent, all programs, personnel, activities, or contracts promoting 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' (DEI) at every level and activity, regardless of your location or the citizenship of employees or contractors, that are supported with funds from this award. Any vestige, remnant or renamed piece of any DEI programs funded by the U.S. government under this award are immediately, completely, and permanently terminated.
No additional costs must be incurred that would be used to support any DEI programs, personnel, or activities.
The DOE has issued a January 27, 2025 Memorandum for all DOE Funding Agreements or Awards suspending the following activities in all sponsored projects:
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and activities involving or relating to DEI objectives and principles; and
- Community Benefits Plans (CBP); and
- Justice40 Requirements, conditions, or principles
Per the memo, "Recipients who have DEI and CBP activities in their awards will be contacted by their Grants Officer to initiate award modifications consistent with this Order."
The DOE has issued new guidance indicating that, until further notice, there will be delays in any funding actions. Here’s what this means for projects pending or already awarded by DOE:
- Pending Proposals
- Awards will be postponed.
- Existing Awards
- Work can continue if obligated funds are available.
- Delays in Additional Funding
- Additional funds, including continuations and supplements, will be postponed.
- Award Performance
- Performance should continue as long as funding is available unless a stop-work order
has been issued.
- Stop-work orders are generally limited to projects funded through contracts or cooperative agreements. Read more in the Stop Work Orders Procedure
- Important Reminder: If a PI receives a stop-work order notice directly, please forward it immediately to OSP for appropriate handling and follow the Stop Work Orders Procedure
- Performance should continue as long as funding is available unless a stop-work order
has been issued.
We recommend closely monitoring your project’s budget to ensure that work aligns with available funds. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to your Sponsored Projects Officer.
NETL has issued a January 28, 2025 Memorandum for all DOE Funding Agreements or Awards suspending the following activities in all sponsored projects:
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and activities involving or relating to DEI objectives and principles; and
- Community Benefits Plans (CBP); and
- Justice40 Requirements, conditions, or principles
Per the memo, "Recipients who have DEI and CBP activities in their awards will be contacted by their Grants Officer to initiate award modifications consistent with this Order."
The U.S. Department of State has issued the following NOTICE OF SUSPENSION for FOREIGN ASSISTANCE AWARDS:
NOTICE OF SUSPENSION
January 24, 2025
Dear Recipient:
The U.S. Department of State hereby notifies the recipient that all foreign assistance awards are immediately suspended. As of January 24, 2025, this award no longer effectuates agency priorities and is suspended in accordance with the U.S. Department of State Standard Terms and Conditions.
This suspension may be further codified through an amendment to the award reflecting the termination date, if appropriate.
Effective immediately upon receipt of this Notice of Suspension the Recipient must stop all work on the program and not incur any new costs after the effective date cited above. The Recipient must cancel as many outstanding obligations as possible.
Sincerely,
Wanda Howell
/obo Ruta Chagnon
Grants Officer
Recipients of these foreign assistance awards should immediately follow the Stop Work Orders Procedure.
NASA has issued a January 23, 2025 Memorandum re: Initial Guidance Regarding Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility (DEIA) Executive Orders terminating all DEIA activities required of their contracts or grants.
This include, but is not limited to, the following activities:
- DEIA plan requirements, training, reporting, considerations for staffing or any other direct or indirect activity
PIs who have these requirements/activities in thier awards should actively engage their Contracting Officer or Grants Officer re: the removal of DEIA activities.
____
NASA has also issued Amendment 109: Removing DEIA Requirements from ROSES-2024.
NASA is "in the process of amending open Program Elements in Roses-2024 to end the Inclusion Plan Pilot Study, remove requirements for Inclusion Plans and the evaluation factors associated with them, and adjust the content of some other Program Elements to remove references to NASA's DEIA programs."
Program elements that have already received proposals will not be amended, but if they required Inclusion Plans, those plans will not be reviewed and will not impact the selection of proposals.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has issued the following January 28, 2025 MESSAGE to the NSF PI Community:
MESSAGE to the NSF PI Community,
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandum M-25-13, issued on January 27, 2025, directs all Federal agencies to conduct a comprehensive review of their financial assistance programs to determine programs, projects, and activities that may be implicated by the recent Executive Orders. Therefore, all review panels, new awards, and all payments of funds under open awards will be paused as the agency conducts the required reviews and analysis.
NSF has created an Executive Order Implementation webpage to ensure the widest dissemination of information and updates. We will continue to communicate with you as we receive additional guidance.
All NSF grantees must comply with these Executive Orders, and any other relevant Executive Orders issued, by ceasing all non-compliant grant and award activities. Executive Orders are posted at https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/. In particular, this may include, but is not limited to conferences, trainings, workshops, considerations for staffing and participant selection, and any other grant activity that uses or promotes the use of DEIA principles and frameworks or violates Federal anti-discrimination laws. Please work with your institutional research office to assist you in complying with the Executive Orders. You can also direct your questions through the form on this NSF webpage.
Thank you for your work advancing science, engineering, technology and innovation for our nation.
Sethuraman Panchanathan
Director
For questions or feedback, please contact:
- Brent Brown
Director, Office of Sponsored Projects
801-581-3003
brent.brown@osp.utah.edu - Todd Bjorklund
Associate Director, Office of Sponsored Projects
801-585-6946
todd.bjorklund@osp.utah.edu