who is the 'real' president right now, I found this about what the OMB is planning with regard to new regulations on federal grants, etc, that would drastically affect monies going to universities and state and local governments. There is obviously pushback on it... but you don't hear about it on the news.


recent regulatory proposals

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is currently advancing a massive, highly controversial regulatory proposal that would fundamentally reshape how $1.2 trillion in federal grants, research funding, and cooperative agreements are managed across the United States.
The primary regulatory initiative is the "Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance," which represents the most sweeping overhaul of the federal grant-making "Uniform Guidance" framework in a generation.

1. The Federal Financial Assistance Overhaul (Title 2 CFR)

Published as a joint interagency proposal on May 29, 2026, this 400-page rule elevates previous OMB guidance to binding regulatory status and centralizes unilateral oversight authority directly within the OMB.
• Political Review of Scientific Merits: The rule shifts the century-old model of objective scientific peer review for research grants to a pre-issuance political review process. Partisan political appointees would evaluate proposals based on their alignment with presidential priorities.
• Policy Restrictions: The proposal explicitly prohibits federal funding for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, gender ideology, and minor sex transitions.
• Termination Discretion: Federal agencies would receive expanded, broad authority to suspend or terminate clinical trials and academic research midstream without a right to appeal.
• Elimination of Fixed-Rate Awards: The rule bars fixed-amount awards and mandates granular subaward reporting on SAM.gov, significantly accelerating reporting obligations and compliance costs for recipients.

2. Current Implementation Status & Congressional Pushback

While the OMB originally set an aggressive deadline to finalize the rule by October 1, 2026, Congress stepped in to block its immediate implementation.
• Legislative Delay: In late summer 2026, both the Senate (90-6) and the House passed a continuing resolution—signed by President Trump—that funds the government through December 11, 2026, and legally blocks the OMB from implementing this rule during that timeframe.
• Feedback Review: Following the close of the public comment period on July 13, 2026, the OMB is legally reviewing thousands of pushback letters from universities, states, and organizations (like the AAAS and GSA) while negotiations continue.

3. Open Regulatory Dockets

Aside from the grant overhaul, the OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) is processing other active rule changes:
• Essential Medicines Manufacturing: An active open item (Docket ID: OMB_FRDOC_0001-0413) focusing on expanding Domestic and Near Shore Manufacturing of Essential Medicines, with public comments due by October 26, 2026.
You can track the ongoing updates and read public submissions for these dockets directly on the official Regulations.gov OMB Docket Page.
If you'd like, I can provide details on:
• The specific legal and constitutional challenges universities are preparing against the rule
• How these changes specifically impact state and local government budgets