Dear Director Vought,
We, the undersigned elected officials from across the country, write to express our strong opposition to the Office of Management and Budget’s proposed rule to overhaul the federal grants and assistance process. Federal grants are an investment in the security of our communities, the health and well-being of our constituents, and the strength of our state and local economies. We call on OMB to abandon this proposal so that towns, cities, counties, and states across the country can continue to deliver the resources and services residents rely on.

We have seen firsthand the benefits federal funding delivers for individuals, families, businesses, and communities. These resources support housing, community development, health, education, food, shelter, disaster recovery, and services for underserved communities. Federal grants are essential for helping local governments and community partners respond to emergencies, strengthen local economies, and meet the needs of our constituents.

The proposed rule would create unnecessary uncertainty and financial risk for state and local governments by allowing political appointees within federal agencies to modify, suspend, or terminate grants mid-performance. This would make it harder for local officials to plan budgets, hire staff, enter into contracts, and carry out long-term projects. It would allow federal awards to be determined by partisan ideology rather than objective criteria, community needs, and congressional intent, while decreasing public transparency throughout the process. If implemented, grantees could face unpredictable financial, legal, and reputational risks that increase the costs of accepting federal awards while decreasing services to people in need.

The compressed implementation timeline would only add to these challenges. Implementation would begin on October 1, 2026, and apply to Fiscal Year 2027 funding. That timeline would force state and local governments to adjust quickly to drastic changes in grant management, monitoring, compliance, and reporting requirements. Many local governments and state-administered programs cannot overhaul budgets, contracts, grant systems, and partnerships on a rushed federal timeline without delays and added costs for the communities we serve. It will disproportionately impact communities that are already relying on federally supported programs for essential services.

For local governments, this proposal would make federal funding less reliable, more costly, and more difficult to administer. It would jeopardize partnerships that allow towns, cities, counties, states, nonprofits, and community organizations to deliver services residents depend on. We urge OMB to abandon this proposed rule and maintain a federal grants and assistance process that is based on objective criteria, community needs, and congressional intent, not partisan ideology.

Sincerely,