Urgent Memo Regarding Federal Funding

Hello,

Late Monday evening, the Trump administration issued a memo (M-25-13) directing all federal agencies to “temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by executive order". While this was intended to go into effect at 5 p.m. ET today, a federal judge has temporarily blocked the action until Monday. All recent executive orders can be found here. 

It is unclear at this moment the scope of the freeze or how this impacts federal funding for research, scholarship, and other support. Affected agencies are working to understand the implications of this memo and moving forward according to their own processes. Some agencies have paused drawdowns; others have not. 

Jeff Martin, grant accountant, continues to invoice sponsors for those expenses posted to Banner. ORSP staff and I are monitoring communications from federal agencies and will provide additional information as it becomes available.  

Limited communications are being issued by specific agencies. At this time, here is what we know: 

• The Department of Health and Human Services Payment management system is currently unavailable. This could be due to volume of requests to draw down funds. 

• The Council of Education has announced that the G6 system for drawdowns will not be available for drawdowns after 5 p.m. ET tonight. 

• NSF recently posted this guidance for investigators. Included in this announcement is a link to an executive order implementation webpage for dissemination of information and updates. They also provide this form to submit questions regarding implementation of the recent executive orders. 

• All NIH study sections are paused until further notice. At this time, any submitted awards will be queued and moved forward when the freeze is lifted. 

Post-Award 

• If funding is not obligated, consider postponing or canceling the purchase until the required funds are provided.  

• Avoid using Purchasing cards (p-cards) for purchases tied to grants. These charges will not be covered until funding is released by sponsors. 

• If funding is obligated: 
  • If procurement is in process and can be finalized with available funds, you can continue. 
     
  • Verify the availability of funds and stay informed about any policy changes that could impact your projects. ORSP will update based on communications received. You may also receive communication directly from your sponsor.
     
  • If a procurement is in process, review the terms and conditions of the agreement regarding cancellation provisions and upcoming payment milestones.
     
  • If a procurement agreement is being negotiated, ensure that the terms and conditions align with the current availability of funding.  

Research Development and Pre-award activities are continuing at this time, unless specific communications are received. We expect that all proposals will be accepted and queued as received once the current situation resolves. 

Thank you to all who have forwarded specific communications received from your sponsors. I will continue to monitor developments from all agencies from which UNC receives funding. Updates will be posted to the Office of Research & Sponsored Programs website as they become available. Please check the site regularly for updates.

Jeri-Anne Lyons, PhD

Associate Vice President for Research
Dean, Graduate School
University of Northern Colorado