NASA directs immediate cessation of DEIA activities in grant awards
Grant recipients must halt all Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility programming and report violations, while the agency also updates its standalone terms and conditions document for the 2025 financial year.
NASA’s Office of Procurement issued a memorandum on 23 January 2025 directing all grant and cooperative agreement recipients to immediately cease and desist from any Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) activities mandated by their awards. This directive follows the Executive Order titled “Initial Rescission of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions” and guidance provided by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in its memorandum “Initial Guidance Regarding DEIA Executive Orders.”
The scope of the cessation order is broad, covering DEIA plan requirements, training sessions, workshops, reporting obligations, staffing considerations, and any other direct or indirect grant activity related to DEIA. Recipients are required to notify their cognizant Grant Officer if they identify existing grant requirements that violate this new guidance. Contact details for the relevant Grant Officer are located on the NF 1687, Notice of Award for Grant and Cooperative Agreement.
Concurrently, for the 2025 financial year, NASA separated the Terms and Conditions from the NASA Grant and Cooperative Agreement Manual (GCAM) to create a standalone document. This new document outlines both general and specific terms and conditions and applies to all awards issued under 2 CFR 1800, which represents NASA’s adoption of the federal 2 CFR 200 regulations.
The Research Terms and Conditions implement the requirements of the Uniform Guidance and include three companion documents: RTC Appendix A, which details the Prior Approval Matrix; RTC Appendix B, covering Subaward Requirements; and RTC Appendix C, which outlines National Policy Requirements. These companion documents are accessible via the National Science Foundation website.
Administrative updates also include the use of the Department of Health and Human Services Payment Management System for federal fund distribution. Routine post-award monitoring remains mandatory, requiring recipients to submit annual performance reports 60 days prior to the annual anniversary of the period of performance start date, alongside semi-annual Federal Financial Reports.
