How To Talk to Anyone About OMB-2026-0034
Written By: Colette Delawalla, PhD, CEO
On May 29th, the Office of Management of Budget (OMB) released a new rule proposing “Uniform Guidance” for how federal grants are spent across the entirety of the US government. This sweeping proposal would be catastrophic not only to the sciences, but to veterans receiving, Medicare recipients, anyone in a minority group, and more. That said, it is deliberately overly technical and dense. But we know that conversations with trusted friends and loved ones is the best way to inform the public. Stand Up for Science Foundation is sharing this guide on how to talk to people about the OMB rule proposal to arm science activists with the communications skills necessary to help folks understand these attacks on our democracy and scientific ecosystem.
First things first, keep these things in mind:
DO use plain words
DO read the room...start off with one sentence, then slowly wade into the water with more detail.
DO Use examples of impact > show don’t tell
Do NOT say “no DEI work”…give examples of what “DEI” means to this administration (provided below).
DO PERSONALIZE. How would it impact THEM as a person? Are they concerned about cancer research, women’s health, veteran benefits, medicare, weather reporting, climate? Tailor the impact.
How would this impact YOU as a scientist? (If they care about you as a person…otherwise, shut up about yourself)
Be able to summarize the rule proposal in one sentence:
The Administration proposed a sweeping rule that would bar scientists from international collaboration, control what they can tell the public about their research, and give Trump officials complete power over which grants are funded—including authority to stop any grant at any time, for any reason.
If the person you are talking to seems interested in learning more, ONLY THEN do you take a deeper dive. That might look like expounding on parts of the rule OR talking about scientific grant funding.
The vast majority of the public does not know (or care about) how scientific grants are funded. If someone asks here is a simple way to explain the process:
Congress gives science agencies a yearly pool of money.
Scientists propose ideas they want to test for the next 5-10 years.
Experts in their area review all the ideas and rank proposals by how strong they are.
If peers think the idea has good potential, it is recommended to be funded
The top ~10% of applications are funded (pre-Trump)
Scientists take their new government contract to their labs, hire people, and work on their proposed ideas.
Russel Vought (Project 2025 mastermind) is avoiding Congress and side-stepping legal rulings by issuing a “uniform guidance” rule proposal for ALL agencies in the federal government that would:
Put Trump’s hand chosen officials in charge of making sure anyone receiving federal grants is aligned with Trump’s priorities
Allows these people to cancel grants at any time for any reason
BAN on research for women, people of color, LGBTQ+, religious minorities, climate…
No viewpoint discrimination…except viewpoints that don’t align with Administration policies
BAN on any collaboration with scientists in other nations
Scientists can be denied grants for personal affiliations (e.g., Indivisible, SUFS)
Researchers can’t freely tell the public about their findings
It would mean that agencies are prohibited from supporting research programs that:
Investigate Black maternal health outcomes;
Provide housing benefits for veterans;
Provide your grandma with a wheelchair via Medicare;
Stop cancer clinical trials that have international collaborations;
Fund LGBTQ+ initiatives;
Study Antisemitism and Islamaphobia;
Investigate the impact of data centers on communities;
Develop new clean energy technology;
Develop new HIV vaccines;
Find new rare disease treatments.
The OMB-2026-0034 rule proposes more content for a “rule” than one would ever expect to see. This should be legislation because it takes away Congress’ “Power of the Purse,” which is a constitutional dictate that means CONGRESS collectively decides how tax dollars are spent—NOT the president or his cabinet members.
We already know what The Trump administration considered “woke” based on cancelled programs including:
The Sudden infant death prevention program, which cut SIDS deaths by over 50%
Leading pediatric brain tumor research group in the world
Research into domestic violence prevention
Cancellation of HIV vaccination development
EPA office of research and development > studied the impacts of pollution and chemical exposures on people and our environment
Scientists are rallying together to stop this rule and protect the public by:
Pressuring Congress to invoke the Congressional Review Act
Telling everyone and their mom—conversation, op-ed’s, social media engagement, press engagement.
You can help, too. You don’t need to be an expert to leave a comment!