UPDATE 02/02/2026
The federal government is currently in partial shutdown. As a result, federal government operations will vary by agency. While some agencies (listed below) will not be affected, the Department of Health & Human Services, which includes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institutes of Health, is among those directly impacted. Staff members for affected agencies (including Grants Management and Program Officers) may be unavailable to assist with issues and questions during a shutdown.
Agencies funded separately and unaffected by the shutdown:
- Department of Commerce
- Department of Justice
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- National Science Foundation
- Department of Energy
- Department of the Interior
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Forest Service
- Indian Health Service
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The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) maintains a live operating status for all federal agencies in Washington, D.C. here. Additional links to current federal agency implementation plans may be found at the bottom of this page.
As in previous shutdowns, researchers with active federally sponsored grants and contracts will generally be instructed to continue work unless the project requires significant involvement of federal employees. Investigators may receive instructions from their contracting or program officers; if you receive such information, please notify your SPS award management contact immediately (links below).
Based on past shutdown experience, SPS anticipates the following potential impacts on sponsored programs operations:
Proposals and Application Systems
We expect that some agencies will not be available to process proposals and that others will retain submitted proposals for processing when normal operations resume. If you are preparing an application or progress report for an upcoming submission deadline, please continue to prepare those documents for an on-time submission; however, we encourage you to monitor further updates for specific guidance and the potential for those deadlines to be extended.
- Proposal preparation systems are expected to remain online during a shutdown, though proposals may not be processed by agencies until normal operations resume. Watch for announcements from agencies for extensions of deadline dates. There is a possibility that the Grants.gov Contact Center will remain available; however, it is unclear if all Help Desk systems will remain functional.
- Peer reviews and study sections are not expected to occur, which may impact faculty who serve as reviewers, and may result in potential delays in start dates for those whose proposals are awaiting review if the shutdown is prolonged.
- Agencies will likely not issue new notices, awards, or other actions during the shutdown.
Award Management
In general, researchers with active federally sponsored grants and contracts will be instructed to continue work, but the following exceptions are noted:
- Personnel working in federal labs/facilities, and possibly on cooperative agreements and joint awards may receive notification that they are not permitted to work on associated awards during the shutdown.
- Faculty working at a federal agency on an interagency personnel agreement (IPA) should immediately contact the agency to determine next steps.
- “Stop Work” orders may be implemented for federal contracts, in which case employees can no longer be paid with federal funds allocated to that contract.
- Final reports should be submitted on time if sponsor systems are operational.
Federal personnel WILL NOT be available, though each agency may articulate emergency contact procedures. Federal personnel will not be available for scheduled campus visits or project status meetings.
Agency Contingency Plans:
- Army Corps of Engineers
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Department of Education
- Department of Health and Human Services
- Department of Homeland Security
- Department of Housing and Urban Development
- Department of the Interior
- Department of Justice
- Department of Labor
- Department of State
- Department of Transportation
- Department of the Treasury
- Department of Veterans Affairs
- Department of War (Defense)
- Economic Development Administration
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Food and Drug Administration
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Standards and Technology
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- National Science Foundation
- Social Security Administration
- United States Department of Agriculture
- Department of Energy: Lapse Plan Summary Overview
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Shutdown furlough guidance
- National Institutes of Health: Information for the Extramural Community During the Lapse of Federal Government Funding (NOT-OD-26-004)
- National Science Foundations: Assistance and Contract-Related Policy and Systems Issues During a Lapse in Appropriations
- OMB: Frequently Asked Questions During Lapse in Appropriations
SPS will continue to monitor agency-specific communications regarding a potential shutdown and provide detailed updates and specific guidance via this page and email.