On January 27, 2025, the Office of Management and Budget issued a sweeping order freezing trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans. Impact to the SBIR/STTR programs is currently unknown.
Articles with more in-depth information are listed below, but we recommend conducting your own research.
On January 27th, the Trump administration issued OMB Memorandum M-25-13, instructing federal agencies to temporarily pause grants, loans, and financial assistance programs in line with the president’s executive orders. This directive affected funding for various initiatives, including foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, and programs related to DEI and climate policies. However, after legal challenges, the White House rescinded the memo on January 29 with a new directive, M-25-14, allowing the Justice Department to argue that the issue was no longer legally relevant in hearings. Despite this, a statement from the White House press secretary clarified that the rescission did not lift the funding freeze, prompting a federal judge in Rhode Island to grant a temporary restraining order on January 31, citing ongoing concerns about the legality of the freeze.
Today, legal battles over the funding pause continued. U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan expressed skepticism that the case was moot, given reports that organizations still could not access funds. After a 90-minute hearing in Washington, D.C., she indicated she was likely to rule in favor of maintaining legal challenges against the freeze. She instructed the plaintiffs, consisting of nonprofits and health organizations, to submit proposed language for an order by early Monday afternoon, with the government required to respond within hours. With her temporary order maintaining the status quo set to expire at 5 p.m. EST that day, AliKhan stated she expected to sign off on a new ruling before the deadline, further prolonging the legal uncertainty surrounding the Trump administration’s funding policy.