Page updated 7:18 a.m., March 27, 2025
We remain highly concerned and are closely monitoring potential changes to how federal grants may be awarded, administered, amended and/or discontinued.
On Friday, Feb. 7, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a 15% cap on “indirect costs,” which are the Facilities and Administration (F&A) costs through which universities, hospitals and research centers recover expenses incurred while conducting research. These costs can be complex to calculate and include lab infrastructure, utilities, communications platforms, IT support, building maintenance, HR and payroll services, compliance officers, reporting officers and purchasing departments, among other necessities that are vital to conducting research.
We partnered with the Washington Attorney General’s Office to support the lawsuit filed Feb. 10 in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts. That same day, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order on the implementation of this proposed cap. On March 6, the judge extended the prohibition on implementing that cap by issuing a preliminary injunction, which blocks implementation while the lawsuit is in process. We are also working closely with our state and federal partners on the broader impacts of this type of change in federal policy. We will continue to provides updates as they are available.
A hold on the National Institutes of Health posting required notices in the Federal Register has affected the agency’s ability to award new grants and issue additional funding for ongoing grants. On Feb. 26, it was reported that the NIH has partially lifted that hold and will “begin sending notices incrementally to the Office of the Federal Register to advertise meetings of scientific review groups/study sections and begin their resumption.” Some review meetings have now been scheduled for late March and early April. This is an area of significant concern for the University that we are monitoring closely, including when the agency will resume other meetings necessary for the awarding of grants, such as meetings of institute councils. There are also ongoing reviews by federal agencies of specific grants that may result in grant pauses or cancellations.
There was also a broader freeze on federal disbursements issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on Jan. 27. That OMB order was rescinded by the administration on Jan. 29 and is also the subject of two federal court orders, one of which was upheld by a federal appeals court on March 26.
Even with these court actions, pauses and stop work orders on some grants are impacting employees and operations. This includes instances in which the UW has received a sub-award and the state, agency or institution that is the primary award recipient is choosing to suspend or stop work. The Office of Research, UW Human Resources, Attorney General’s Office and other offices are working directly with relevant unit heads, principal investigators and staff.