2025 Federal Administration Actions and Updates

Last updated March 7, 2025

Research Related Policy Updates and Resources

The University of Chicago is dedicated to supporting our researcher community and the impactful, field-defining research produced across all academic disciplines. As the broader landscape of federal funding for academic research evolves, the University will continue to explore ways to support research while minimizing disruptions.

This site is a central hub for information regarding recent Executive Orders, actions by federal agencies related to sponsored research, and related University guidance. We will update this site regularly as new developments emerge.

* Items with an asterisk are subject to legal challenges, the statuses of which are briefly summarized below.

Links to Relevant Executive Actions and Other Policy Updates 

• Executive Order related to agency review and justification of federal payment transactions
• Executive Orders related to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)
  • Executive Order: “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” *

  • Executive Order: “Ending Radical Government DEI Programs and Preferencing”

• Executive Order related to Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid *

• Executive Order related to Gender Ideology *
• Executive Order Establishing the President’s Make America Healthy Again Commission
• OMB Memo M-25-13 *:
  • Rescission of M-25-13
  • OMB Memo M-25-13: Temporary Pause of Agency Grant, Loan, and Other Financial Assistance Programs
  • OMB: Instructions for Federal Financial Assistance Program Analysis
  • OMB Memo: Temporary Pause Q and A
• Other Presidential Actions (White House)

Links to Agency/Department Memoranda and Other Communications

Links to Helpful Association Websites and Documents

The Council on Governmental Relations (COGR), an association of research universities/institutions and AMCs, has developed a resource page that provides links to information, analysis, government documents, and other information about executive actions and changes in policies and practices that affect federally funded research.  We encourage you to reference this resource for the most up to date information on agency developments.

The Association of Public Land-grant Universities (APLU) has put together a helpful summary of the recent Executive Orders and Memos.  

The Association of American Universities (AAU) also has a resource page providing updates.

An Association infographic related to the NIH Indirect costs can be found here.

Legal Challenges to certain Executive Actions:

• NIH action to reduce indirect cost rates: Multiple lawsuits have been filed challenging the NIH’s reduction of the indirect cost rate (overhead) for NIH grants to 15%.  On March 5th, a nationwide preliminary injunction was granted preventing the implementation of the reduction until further order of the court.
• Rescinded OMB memo: On March 6th, a preliminary injunction was granted prohibiting the implementation of the federal funding freeze as contemplated by the rescinded OMB memo remain in place until further order of the court.
• Gender-Affirming Care Funding Restrictions: On March 4th, a preliminary injunction was granted for one of the lawsuits challenging the recent executive orders on gender-affirming care, blocking the government from conditioning, withholding or terminating federal funding.
• DEI Executive Orders: A preliminary injunction is in place preventing the implementation of the DEI Executive Orders.
• Access to Public Webpages and Datasets: A temporary restraining order is in place ordering restoration of certain webpages and datasets recently made unavailable by the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration. Additional hearings will follow.
• USAID: A preliminary injunction to prohibit the implementation of a funding freeze on USAID contractors has been denied by the court. Additional hearings will follow.
• Gender Ideology Executive Order: Multiple lawsuits have been filed challenging this EO.  A temporary restraining order has been granted in one of the cases preventing agencies from conditioning or withholding federal funding based on the fact that a healthcare entity or health professional provides gender affirming medical care to a patient under the age of 19. Additional hearings and rulings in the remaining cases will follow.

University Guidance for the Federally-Funded Research Community

Despite ongoing federal policy changes, the University remains committed to ensuring that research activity continues with minimal disruption. Below are key guidelines for faculty and researchers regarding proposals, pre-submission processes, and awarded grants.  

To date, the federal funding portals remain functional and we have continued drawing down funds regularly on awarded grants.

General Guidance

• Stay Informed: Sign up for agency or sponsor notifications. Although communication from many agencies has been limited, this may help you stay abreast of any communications they issued to the research community.
• Continue Active Research: Proceed with work on federal funded projects unless a stop work order has been received from the sponsor (see below) and continue to meet all deadlines for technical reports and other required deliverables.
• Monitor Budgets: Per normal practice, continue monitoring obligated budget balances to prevent deficits while awaiting future funding obligations.
• Access to Public Datasets: If your research relies on publicly available datasets hosted by a federal agency website, to the extent permissible under the terms of access, consider downloading the set locally to enable continued access or contact colleagues who may have already done so.  For local preservation, please contact the Library at datasharing@uchicago.edu. They can assist with data preservation and advise on the appropriate action in line with copyright and other applicable law. Just because material is available online does not necessarily mean it would be legal to download, share and use it for research. For more information on Data Archiving efforts, please visit the UChicago Library’s Data Archiving Website.

Proposals & Pre-Submission

Faculty and researchers should continue submitting proposals according to Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs). Given the evolving policy landscape, we encourage investigators and grant administrators to:

• Regularly Check for Updates: Stay on top of updated NOFOs and amendments that may impact eligibility, submission requirements, deadlines or allowable costs.

• Consult with Pre-Award Administrators: If a specific proposal requirement in your NOFO is impacted by a recent Executive Order consult with your local or URA pre-award administrator for guidance on how to proceed.

Active Federal Awards

• Stop-Work Orders or Suspensions: If you receive a stop-work order, notice of suspension or request for a certification directly from a federal funding agency, please forward it immediately to ura-researchcompliance@uchicago.edu for assistance and guidance.

• Survey, questionnaires and requests for data: Some funding agencies have begun sending surveys, questionnaires, and requests for data seeking information about, among other things, University activities relating to the subject matter of various executive orders and the University’s activities with international partners and collaborators. If you receive such a request, please forward it to ura-researchcompliance@uchicago.edu.

• Certifications or Other Requests Related to Executive Orders: If you receive a certification request or other direction/request from a federal agency regarding your award, please forward the email to URA at ura-researchcompliance@uchicago.edu. Please do not sign or respond to these requests without URA involvement as only designated University officials are authorized to provide certifications to federal agencies. URA will work closely with anyone receiving these types of requests on the next steps.

• Other Agency Communications: If you have any questions or concerns about other communications you receive from a funding agency, please contact your local administrator or URA at ura-researchcompliance@uchicago.edu.

Sign up for Email Notifications

To help our community stay informed, we have created a listserv for federal updates. Listserv subscribers receive a summary email every Friday highlighting key developments and available resources. Ongoing updates of significant impact are also shared regularly through the listserv.

To join the listserv:

1. Go to lists.uchicago.edu.

2. Click “Login” (upper right corner) and then enter your CNet ID and password.

3. Click on the “Search for List(s)” button and search for “oor-fed-researcher”

4. Click on the listserv name.

5. On the left side of the screen, click the “Subscribe” button under “List Home.”

6. Enter your name and confirm you wish to subscribe.