SLAS's Response to the OMB's Proposed Revisions to the Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance

Oak Brook, Illinois — The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently published a proposed rule, “Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance,” that would fundamentally revise Part 200 of Title 2 of the US Code of Federal Regulations, which is the government-wide framework for managing federal research grants and other financial assistance. If finalized, the rule would significantly affect federal funding allocations that do not align with the U.S. administration’s prerogatives. 

As the proposed rule is extensively complex, we have outlined three key areas that would greatly affect our community. Additionally, we state SLAS’s intention to submit a comment and provide resources to better understand the revisions and how to take action. 

How the Proposed Rule Would Affect the SLAS Community 

The OMB’s proposal directly endangers the core activities of the SLAS community: publishing, conference attendance, and professional membership.

1. Publishing: The proposed rule would reject most publishing costs for federally funded research. Fees to publish research results would no longer be allowed in federal grants unless previously approved by an appointee of the federal government. Subscriptions to professional, academic and technical journals, essential for researchers to stay current, would become categorically unallowable in federal grants.  

2. Conference Attendance: Conference travel would be allowed only with advance approval from the federal agency and inclusion in the award’s terms and conditions. This change removes funding to attend essential conferences, where research results are often presented. 

3. Professional Membership: Professional society memberships would be allowed only if strictly necessary to meet award requirements and contingent on prior written agency approval. This would eliminate financial support for researchers’ access to the professional infrastructure of conferences, journals and societies. 

These three changes alone would significantly reduce transparency in the presentation and sharing of scientific research. 

How You Can Submit a Comment 

OMB is accepting public comments until July 13, 2026. If finalized, the rule will take effect on October 1, 2026. 

SLAS will submit formal comments on the proposed rule. These comments will detail how the rule would harm our mission to unite researchers and advance life sciences discovery through education, knowledge exchange, and global community building. The comment period is an official process that requires OMB to consider the issues raised. It is important to build a strong public record against these provisions. 

We urge our community to submit comments to protect the future of scientific advancement.  

When submitting comments, specificity is vital to explain your concerns. Consider addressing how the changes would impact your ability to: 

• Publish research findings and access essential scientific literature. 

• Attend and present at conferences necessary for sharing scientific research and collaboration. 

• Participate in and benefit from professional societies like SLAS. 

• Collaborate with international partners and co-publish scientific research. 

To submit a comment, visit https://www.regulations.gov/document/OMB-2026-0034-0001 and follow the instructions to submit a comment on any/all parts of the proposed rule. You can submit as an individual, organization or anonymously (any "interested person" can submit a comment). 

For questions regarding SLAS’s participation in submitting a comment, please email SLAS CEO Vicki Loise, CMP, CAE. 

Links and Resources

• OMB Federal Register Notice (Official Rule) 

• Official comment submission form 

• Detailed summary by Ropes & Gray 

• Scienceimpacts.org interactive map displaying the economic impact of the proposed cuts 

• Commenting outline and resources by Defend Research  

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SLAS (Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening) is an international professional society of academic, industry and government life sciences researchers and the developers and providers of laboratory automation technology. The SLAS mission is to bring together researchers in academia, industry and government to advance life sciences discovery and technology via education, knowledge exchange and global community building.

SLAS publishes two peer-reviewed and MEDLINE-indexed scientific journals, SLAS Discovery and SLAS Technology. For more information about SLAS and its journals, visit www.slas.org/journals.

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