Federal Administration Transition
To the Texas A&M Research Community,
The Vice President for Research (VPR) and Sponsored Research Services (SRS) are committed to providing up-to-date information related to Federal Executive Orders and other federal actions impacting federally funded research. In response to Executive Orders, federal agencies are taking individual actions and issuing directives including stop work orders while also pausing communications. To keep the research community up to date of potential impacts on the management of federally sponsored projects during this transition period, the Division of Research has established this web page to serve as a resource for the research community.
Federal Government Transitions updates
Complete list of interim updates from the federal government and from Texas A&M University.
Share your impact
It is critical that the Texas A&M administration knows and understands the impacts of these changes from the PI perspective. Please continue to share your impact stories with the Government Relations Office and the Vice President for Research Office.
Guidance
Interim Updates
Judge issues a Temporary Restraining Order halting the Department of Energy from implementing the indirect cost rate change
April 16, 2025U.S. District Judge Burroughs in Massachusetts issued a temporary restraining order in response to the lawsuit filed by higher education organizations, with a hearing scheduled for April 28, 2025.
The Association of American Universities, the American Council on Education, and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities jointly filed a new lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, along with a number of impacted research university co-plaintiffs, seeking to halt the proposed DOE F&A cut.
The DOE announced that it will limit the agency’s federal support of “indirect costs” for DOE research funding to 15%.
Communications
Proposals
Many federal agencies are removing solicitations to ensure they are compliant with the Executive Orders. SRS will continue to submit proposals as the federal agencies submission systems are operational and the RFP has not been removed.
There may be changes to proposal deadlines. It is recommended to confirm the deadline with your SRS proposal administrator.
Award Management
Hiring of personnel on projects should be done in close consultation or coordination with your Human Resources (HR) liaison.
Current awards that have received SWOs are under review. This is evolving; additional guidance from Member leadership and HR will be provided to those affected soon.
Per the SWO, all work must cease, and no further expenses or conduct should be done under the award. This includes project planning, implementation, travel, logistics or any other expenses or activities under the award.
If a SWO is received from the prime funding agency, SRS is notifying subawardees via email communication that work must cease. SRS is not issuing formal amendments to the subawardees until further communication is received from the federal agency as to the trajectory of the project.
Under the Executive Order Review by Federal Agencies, subawardee invoices will be processed for work completed.
No, most federally funded sponsored projects are awarded as cost reimbursable. SRS may only invoice or draw funds from the federal agencies for expenses that have been incurred. Any expenses incurred within the scope of the award and covered by obligated funds will be reimbursed. Future expenses cannot be drawn from the federal sponsor.
If funding is obligated:
- If you are able to secure equipment, materials or supplies for your project using your currently obligated funds, you are encouraged to proceed with doing so.
- Continue to verify the availability of funds and stay informed about any policy changes that could impact your projects.
- If a procurement is in process, review the terms and conditions of the vendor agreement for cancellation provisions and upcoming payment milestones. If you have any questions, please contact Texas A&M Procurement.
- If a procurement agreement is being negotiated, collaborate with your Texas A&M Contracting Officer to ensure the terms and conditions align with the current funding availability.
- When obtaining quotes for a procurement, request that the country of origin be included and ensure the quote includes a validity period during which the vendor is committed to maintaining the quoted prices without alteration.