Will a New Federal Grant Rule Restrict Who Can Attend U.S. Conferences?

Every conference organizer who works with government agencies, research universities, or professional societies has counted on one quiet assumption: if a grant covers travel and the conference is relevant to the funded work, registration and airfare get reimbursed without a fight. On May 29, 2026, the White House Office of Management and Budget proposed erasing that assumption — and buried inside a rewrite of the regulations that govern federal grants is a provision that could determine which of your grant-funded registrants actually show up.

A Sweeping Rewrite of How Federal Grants Pay for Travel

The proposal, published in the Federal Register as "Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance," revises 2 CFR Part 200 — known across the research, nonprofit, and government-contracting world as the "Uniform Guidance" — the rulebook that governs how more than $1 trillion in federal grants and cooperative agreements is spent every year Federal Register, May 29, 2026. Among dozens of changes to how agencies review, issue, and audit grants, one line item speaks directly to the meetings industry: attending a conference on the government's dime would no longer be a routine, pre-approved use of grant funds.

What the Rule Actually Changes for Conference Attendance

Under current rules, a conference directly related to a grant-funded project is treated as an ordinary, allowable travel cost, no different from a flight to a job site or a research trip. The proposed rule removes that presumption. In its place, the draft text states that "the costs for attending conferences are allowable only if participation in the conference is expressly approved by the Federal agency and included in the terms and conditions of the Federal award," according to summaries published by law firms tracking the rulemaking Ropes & Gray, "OMB Proposed Revisions to the Uniform Guidance"; McDermott Will & Emery, "OMB Proposes Major Overhaul of Uniform Guidance".

In practice, that means an agency would need to name the specific conference in the award terms before the funding is issued, not after a relevant conference is announced partway through a multi-year grant, which is how most research and workforce-development travel is actually planned today.

Why MICE Organizers Should Be Watching This

Scientific societies, university-run professional-development conferences, workforce-development expos, and state and local government trade shows all depend on attendees who cover travel and registration with federal grant dollars — university researchers presenting findings, nonprofit program staff attending peer conferences, and state agency employees at expos where they source new vendors and technology. If those attendees' home institutions can no longer count on grant funds for a conference that wasn't already named in the award, some won't be funded to attend at all, or will need approvals that take months longer than a typical registration deadline allows. Skift Meetings, the first outlet to connect the rule to the meetings industry, put the stakes plainly: the change would mean a federal agency effectively decides, conference by conference, who from a grant-funded project is allowed to attend Skift Meetings, June 22, 2026.

The Industry Is Pushing Back

The Exhibitions & Conferences Alliance (ECA), the Washington, D.C.-based coalition of U.S. trade and professional associations that advocates for the exhibitions and business-events industry, has formally opposed the conference provision in comments filed with OMB. ECA's argument, as reported by TSNN, is that requiring pre-approval before an award is finalized creates the most friction in exactly the situations where flexibility matters: conferences that are announced or become relevant after a project is already underway. The burden, ECA says, falls hardest on smaller organizations that lack discretionary funds to cover a conference outside the grant budget TSNN, "ECA Sounds Alarm on OMB Proposal Targeting Meetings, Conferences and Event Services". Trade Show Executive has published guidance for event professionals on how to submit their own comments before the deadline Trade Show Executive, "U.S. OMB Proposal Could Impact Events Industry: How to Get Involved".

The provision doesn't stop at attendee travel. ECA's comments also flag language that would restrict which event-related costs, including security, crowd management, and other logistical support, are allowable when tied to a federally funded grant or cooperative agreement — a provision that reaches venues and event-service providers directly, not only the institutions that hire them.

A Larger Political Fight in the Background

The conference provision sits inside a far more contested rewrite: the same proposal would require political appointees at federal agencies to sign off on individual research awards, a change that has drawn sustained coverage and opposition from the scientific community, including Scientific American, Inside Higher Ed, and university research associations Scientific American, "White House proposes new rules giving political appointees final approval on research grants"; Inside Higher Ed, "Comments Flood OMB Proposal on Political Control of Grants," July 7, 2026. That larger fight has driven an unusually large public response: OMB's docket had drawn roughly 30,000 comments within weeks of the proposal and had climbed past 90,000 by the time Inside Higher Ed reported on it in early July — a volume that shows how many institutions beyond the events industry have a stake in the outcome.

What to Do Before July 13

Know your exposure. If your conference, congress, or expo draws registrants from universities, federal agencies, national labs, or state and local governments, a meaningful share of them may be attending today on grant funds under the current, permissive rule.

Talk to your grant-funded attendees now. Program officers and grant administrators at partner institutions need lead time to get a specific conference named in award terms; waiting until the rule takes effect will be too late for anyone whose award is already signed.

File a comment if you have standing. The docket, OMB-2026-0034, is open on regulations.gov through July 13, 2026 Regulations.gov, Docket OMB-2026-0034; associations and conference organizers with grant-funded members can add their own account of the operational impact.

Watch for the final rule, not just the proposal. Nothing here is final. OMB must review the comments it receives, and the effective date, currently proposed for October 1, 2026 to align with the start of the federal fiscal year, could still shift.

Key Takeaways

• On May 29, 2026, OMB published a proposed rule in the Federal Register revising 2 CFR Part 200 (the "Uniform Guidance"), which governs more than $1 trillion in annual federal grants and cooperative agreements.
• The proposal removes the standing presumption that conference costs tied to a grant's work are allowable, replacing it with a requirement that participation be "expressly approved by the Federal agency and included in the terms and conditions of the Federal award."
• Public comments are open through July 13, 2026 on docket OMB-2026-0034; the proposed effective date is October 1, 2026, for fiscal year 2027 awards.
• OMB's docket drew roughly 30,000 comments within weeks of publication and had topped 90,000 by early July, according to Inside Higher Ed.
• The Exhibitions & Conferences Alliance (ECA) has formally opposed the conference-approval provision, warning it will hit smaller, grant-dependent organizations hardest.
• The rule would also limit which event-related costs, including security and crowd management, are allowable under federally funded grants, a provision that reaches venues and event-service providers directly.
• MICE organizations with attendee bases tied to U.S. federal research or workforce-development grants should flag the risk to affected registrants now and consider filing a comment before the deadline.

Data sources: Federal Register — Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance, May 29, 2026, Ropes & Gray — OMB Proposed Revisions to the Uniform Guidance, McDermott Will & Emery — OMB Proposes Major Overhaul of Uniform Guidance, Skift Meetings — The White House Wants to Approve Your Conference Attendance, June 22, 2026, TSNN — ECA Sounds Alarm on OMB Proposal Targeting Meetings, Conferences and Event Services, Trade Show Executive — U.S. OMB Proposal Could Impact Events Industry: How to Get Involved, Scientific American — White House proposes new rules giving political appointees final approval on research grants, Inside Higher Ed — Comments Flood OMB Proposal on Political Control of Grants, July 7, 2026, Regulations.gov — Docket OMB-2026-0034.