On August 24, 2026, the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, Department of the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) published proposed rules in the Federal Register that would give itself more leeway in how and why it cancels federal grant funding. The rule changes would codify methods for cancellation of grant funding that fails to align with the Trump administration’s policies, including allowing the USDE to cancel discretionary funds “for convenience.”

The changes would also require grant program recipients to comply with executive orders, would give the USDE authority to review “information from the grant application and previous grantee activity,” and would allow the USDE to “issue a partial award, provide funding in installments, or delay the release of funds.”

The new rules would also cut off some of the ways grantees could use to appeal the loss of their funding and remove requirements that the USDE publish grant competition notices in the Federal Register, where agencies post new rule proposals and public notices and seek pubic comment. They also include some of the language the Trump administration has used to prohibit what it considers to be diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives to grant making criteria.

The public comment period for the proposed rules ends on September 23, 2026, after which the USDE plans to finalize the regulations in late 2026.

Sources: K-12 Dive and Ed. Week