January 27, 2025: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a freeze on public communications, including committee meetings, publications, guidance, notices, regulations, funding announcements, training, website updates, press releases, social media, participation in public speaking engagements, and work-related travel. Some of the meetings canceled include study sections, which review National Institutes for Health (NIH) fellowship and grant applications, and advisory council meetings, which make recommendations on which applications should receive funding from a specific NIH Institute or center, leading to a pause in review processes. At this time, it appears that this freeze is intended to be temporary. According to press and other reports, it is anticipated that these activities will resume shortly (as soon as Feb. 1, according to a memo issued internally at NIH).
January 27, 2025: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has implemented an immediate suspension of all USDA actions related to funding opportunities, including Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities funding. The freeze does not apply to no-cost extensions or no-cost modifications. The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has removed all FY25 requests for applications (RFAs) from their website, removed all submission deadlines from their calendar, and removed open packages from grants.gov. A notice is currently posted on the NIFA website that states: “All NIFA Requests for Applications are currently under review. Check back for updates or subscribe to NIFA Funding Opportunities for email updates as they happen.”
January 24, 2025: The U.S. State Department announced a 90-day freeze on nearly all foreign assistance worldwide, which included immediate “stop work” orders on existing foreign assistance and also paused new aid from the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for programs worldwide. A memo sent by Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that within 85 days, the administration will develop standards for reviewing foreign foreign assistance to determine whether it is “aligned with President Trump’s foreign policy agenda.” Exemptions from the freeze include aid to Israel and Egypt as well as emergency food aid.
