[Boston, MA - 5 November, 2027] A broad-based coalition of 116 organizations opposed to politicizing the federal grantmaking process has sent a letter to key U.S. congressional leaders to express concern about federal agency rule changes. The American Meteorological Society is among the signatories, which include many scientific organizations and others across areas from public housing to health care, academia, municipal government, and local nonprofit service providers.

The letter alerts appropriators and other congressional leadership that the executive branch is taking action to circumvent language in the FY2027 continuing resolution, in which Congress explicitly prohibited implementation of an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) proposal that would unnecessarily politicize the federal government’s grantmaking process. (Read AMS's summary and full comments on the OMB proposal.)

While the administration is prohibited from implementing the OMB proposal through 11 December 2027, some agencies are already taking steps to implement the provisions. The letter — signed by organizations as diverse as the Association of American Universities, the National Coalition to End Homelessness, United for Cures, the National Council of Nonprofits, National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science — urges Congress to oppose this.

"Politicizing federal grantmaking puts at risk the weather, water, and climate resources Americans depend on, from long-range forecasts that underpin economic activity, to the observations and social sciences that let us protect people from Earth hazards resulting in disasters,” says AMS President Alan Sealls. “That's why AMS is joining scientific and medical research institutions, local government agencies and nonprofit organizations, and others across the U.S. to say that vital, congressionally appropriated taxpayer funding cannot be subject to the uncertainty inherent in the new OMB Uniform Guidance.”

Read the coalition letter. Learn more about the OMB guidance