Position Statement: New Proposal Would Politicize the Grant-Making Process
Migrant Clinicians Network is alarmed by a recent federal proposal that could radically alter the way nonprofits doing important community work qualify for federal funding. Public comments on this proposal are open until July 13th.
This unprecedented proposal, titled “Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance,” would fundamentally alter the federal grant review process by reducing expert recommendations to an advisory role and placing funding decisions in the hands of political appointees, whose perspectives may not align with community priorities or research findings and who may lack grant-specific topical expertise.
For decades, the US Department of Health and Human Services, the largest grant-making agency in the US, has relied on rigorous multi-step review processes that engaged independent subject-matter experts to evaluate applications based on technical merit, demonstrated need, and potential impact. Funding decisions that affect the health and well-being of local or regional communities should be guided by professionals with deep expertise and first-hand knowledge of the field, not by political appointees whose qualifications, expertise, or decision-making criteria may be unrelated to the program’s purpose. Undermining expert review risks politicizing the allocation of public resources, weakening accountability, and diverting funds away from the communities and programs best positioned to make an impact.
The proposal would also give the acting administration the ability to cancel already-awarded grants on projects that are in progress. Funding disruptions to nonprofits and institutions mid-cycle directly harms under-resourced communities. For example, 2025’s massive funding cuts to PEPFAR resulted in testing and treatment declines for people with HIV/AIDS, and hundreds of thousands of deaths have resulted from the rapid defunding and dismantling of USAID.
Under this proposal, potentially a hundred thousand community-based organizations and nonprofits would be subjected to partisan review of their federal funding. Nonprofits bring localized, cost-effective services directly to our communities, meeting their needs efficiently, and reducing staffing and expense at the governmental level. Without their assistance, communities are likely to experience interruptions to vital health care, social services, housing assistance, disaster relief, and other community supports, jeopardizing the health, safety, and economic stability of millions of individuals and families who depend on these services every day.
For Migrant Clinicians Network, additional federal funding cuts would weaken our ability to support the health of these migrant and immigrant communities. A healthy workforce is critical to the US economy. Immigrants fill the majority of jobs in the essential industries of construction and agriculture, both of which have higher rates of occupational injury than most other industries. They also play a critical role in filling the growing jobs needs of our health care industry. In over 40 years of serving migrant and immigrant populations across the US, Migrant Clinicians Network has seen how those who come to our country face persistent challenges in accessing quality, culturally competent health care, regardless of administration. MCN’s work improves the quality of and access to health care for migrants and immigrants. We connect immigrants and migrants to their local community health centers. We equip clinicians with updated, tailored, and bilingual information on emerging health concerns that these communities uniquely face, to improve diagnoses and quality of care. Without federal support for this work, the health gap between migrants and immigrants and the general population would further expand, resulting in increased reliance on the more expensive and less effective emergency care system.
Comments to this proposed change are now open on the Federal Register. Comments are due by Monday, July 13. Tell them that the federal grantmaking process is too important to be tainted by politics.
Gain other perspectives on this proposal:
Comment on OMB proposed rule for federal financial assistance | American Physical Society, which includes a well-made tool to help you build your comments based on the issues that matter most to you.
Summary of Key Changes in OMB’s Proposed Federal Financial Assistance Rule, which also includes a template for making a comment.
OMB’s Proposed Federal Grant Rule - Research!America, a page that also includes a FAQ on submitting comments, an archived webinar with a discussion on the rule’s impact, and a slide deck on how to develop and submit comments.