Proposed changes in US federal guidelines for funding
Will the guidelines proposed by the Trump administration affect special education and students with disabilities?
The US federal government proposed revisions to regulations that govern the awarding of grants and cooperative agreements by the government. The proposed changes, which originated with the Office of Management and Budget, are designed “to improve government-wide policies and requirements related to the management of grants, cooperative agreements, and other forms of assistance” throughout the federal government. Because many projects and programs for special education and children with disabilities (and their families) receive funds from the US government, the proposed changes are likely to affect those Dear Readers of Special Education Today who seek funding for their work as well as other Dear Readers who benefit from the programs and projects.
In this post, I simply provide basic information about the proposed changes and encourage readers to consider the consequences of those changes. Dear Readers who have opinions about the changes and their consequences may express those opinions by commenting (that’s an official term) on the proposed regulations by 13 July 2026. For guidance and fundamental information, see (both resolve to the same content)
What will one find by following those links? In the beginning there is a summary of the proposal.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) proposes to revise the Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance to improve government-wide policies and requirements related to the management of grants, cooperative agreements, and other forms of assistance. OMB is proposing revisions that would improve transparency, accountability, and oversight for Federal awards across the Federal Government. This includes ensuring that American tax dollars are not wasted or misused, activities performed under Federal awards are consistent with law and policy, and recipients are held accountable when they fail to meet relevant standards. The revisions also aim to ensure that basic American principles of equality and equal opportunity are upheld throughout all stages of the award making process and that unlawful discrimination is no longer permitted. Proposed changes also include providing further clarification on the regulatory status of the OMB requirements and on the process for future updates to the government-wide requirements. Finally, OMB also proposes changes to reduce recipient burden. The listed Federal grant-making agencies propose conforming changes to their respective adopting regulations, or, in the case of some agencies and other entities, establishing new adopting regulations or policies. The proposed changes reflect the administration’s commitment to transparency, accountability, and proper oversight for the Federal grantmaking process. The proposed regulations seek to ensure that American tax dollars are ultimately used to serve the needs of the American public.
When one digs into the recommendations, they seem to bring a heightened level of scrutiny to features of applications for funding. The effort is to eliminate fraud and waste, of course. As we saw in 2025, the current administration referred to eliminating fraud and waste when it also cut funding for programs and projects that had “woke” aspects to them. Programs that proposed to support individuals from minority groups were vulnerable to elimination…and, we know that (a) many individuals with disabilities also come from ethnic, linguistic, and other minority groups, and that (b) children with disabilities constitute a minority group in and of themselves.
Only some of the funding for special education and disabilities services come from the US government. When thinking about federal funding and special education, it is easy to focus on moneys that are part of the legislated support associated with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, but those dollars are only one aspect of the story.1 There are other streams of funding, too, and some of them flow through grants and cooperative agreements. The proposed changes in regulations would likely not affect the IDEA stream, because that is established by law. The same may be true for programs such as those funded through Medicaid, Children’s Health initiatives, Social Security, and other programs. The proposed changes are focused on applications for funding via programs and offices.
It is, however, applications for funding for special education projects and programs that may be directly affected. Here are a few examples of funding streams that are outside the formula funding mechanisms. These may affected by the proposed changes in the regulations.
Personnel development to improve services for children with disabilities (e.g., teaching education);
Parent training and information centers;
Research and innovation grants (many of those “grants” that academics write);
Technical assistance and dissemination programs;
University centers for excellence in developmental disabilities
Autism research centers
Intellectual and developmental disabilities research centers
Rehabilitation-related research and model systems (for, e.g., spinal chord, traumatic brain injury, etc.)
Technical assistance projects (e.g., early childhood, positive behavior intervention and support, transition)
Suffice it to say that there are lots-and-lots of disability-related programs and projects that could be influenced by the changes in regulations. In a way, it is nice that disability is included. It is also a warning, because being included may mean that the proposed regulations will result in a diminution of available resources for our kids.
I anticipate that SET will return to this topic before the deadline for public comment passes. There are at least a couple of contributors here who have a more informed perspective on the matter and can probably offer better explanations and guidance than what your aging and under-capacitated writer has provided in this post.
Footnote
The policy folks at the Council for Exceptional Children (including the team led by the savvy and informed Kuna Tavalin of Stride Policy Solutions) explained Why Funding Sources Matter for Students and Schools.