OMB Rule

OMB Rule

This is not a political commentary; just sharing facts.

On May 29, 2026, the White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) published a new rule that would radically overhaul how scientific research grants are managed. In short, the gold standard of “peer review” would be replaced by political appointees determining which scientific grants get funded. We share the opinion of virtually all in the scientific and charity funder community that this is a huge mistake. And, to be clear, it is not the place of political appointees of either party to be injecting themselves in the scientific determination of research grants at this level. Some oversight is fair, but the determinations should be left to the scientists.

The public comment period closed on July 13th and the OVERWHELMING response (I.e. 90+%) was in opposition to the OMB rule. The rule was scheduled to go into place in October, but the US Senate CR (continuing resolution) has delayed the implementation until Dec. 11th, after the election.

The system that has been in place for decades, coupled with funding, has allowed the United States to be a global leader in scientific research. When I was a child, the survival rate of Leukemia (ALL) was 10%-15%. Today, it is approximately 90%. This didn’t happen by accident. Unless we want to cede this leadership to other countries (ie. China), we need to not only maintain our system, but aggressively fund it.

Ali & Andrew’s Dad

Credit: Studio Grand Web