AHPA seeks greater transparency and political neutrality in comments to OMB proposed rule on federal grant policies

• By: AHPA
• On: 07/20/2026 13:21:16
• In: Regulation / Legislation

July 20, 2026

In comments to a major U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) proposed rule, the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) has sought revisions that would protect the transparency and political neutrality of, among other things, federally funded scientific research, disaster recovery, and agricultural support.

Federal grantmaking authority is generally rooted in individual authorizations by Congress, which, through individual laws, assigns grantmaking authority to individual federal agencies. These legal authorities are generally accompanied by agency- and subject-specific rules. While OMB currently maintains guidance that structures the grantmaking activities of individual agencies, the proposed rule would assert direct, central OMB control for the first time. This proposed rule has the stated goal of improving transparency, accountability, and oversight in U.S. grant-funded activities, and it would come with a wide array of specific changes to the design, oversight, application, and revision of grant programs.

AHPA narrowly focused its comments on elements of the proposed rule that would unduly increase costs of grant-funded activities as well as potentially result in the appearance of or actual politicization of these critical activities. In particular, AHPA opposed several elements of the proposed rule that would shift all decision-making regarding grants to politically appointed leaders and their designees, while also providing them unbounded or undefined discretionary authority over funding activities. For example, as proposed, an appointed figure at a research agency could not defer to a scientific review board in determining the recipient of competitive research funding, and this figure could decide to fund research based on its alignment with a given administration's preferences. Research funded under the proposed rule could also be unilaterally terminated at the discretion of politically appointed figures if the publication of its results might conflict with the priorities of the then-current administration.

“AHPA generally supports the goals of this action to increase accountability and reduce inconsistencies in federal grant programs,” said AHPA President & CEO Graham Rigby. “If adopted, our recommended changes will ensure that the goals of this rulemaking are met, while also respecting the wishes of Congress in directing appropriations.”

The proposed rule also includes a number of provisions that would ban the distribution of federal funds for activities opposed by administration leadership. AHPA did not comment on these elements of the proposed rule.