Dear Friends and Partners,

As stewards of one of the most historically significant regions in America, you know better than most what it takes to preserve and share this story. Today we are writing to ask you to lend your voice to an effort that could determine how — and whether — that work continues to receive federal support.

A federal rule is being proposed that would change the way all federal grants are awarded and managed. The public comment period closes July 13, 2026.

What is being proposed.

Over the past year, the federal government’s approach to grant funding has changed dramatically. In early 2025, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) arrived at the Institute of Museum and Library Services — the federal agency that funds museums and libraries nationwide — placed its entire staff on administrative leave, fired its independent advisory board, and began canceling grants that institutions had already spent money on and expected to be reimbursed for. Smaller museums and libraries were forced into emergency fundraising. Some ended programs midstream. The same pattern played out at the National Institutes of Health, where DOGE terminated thousands of grants worth billions of dollars — including a 31 percent cut to cancer research funding in early 2025 alone.

Freedom’s Frontier felt these effects firsthand. In summer 2025, our congressionally approved grant funding was frozen without warning. The organization nearly shuttered. Advocacy by our congressional partners helped restore the funding, but the vulnerability and uncertainty were real.

Now, the same agency that was the driving force of the 2025 funding freeze — the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) — is seeking to make those vulnerabilities permanent. On May 29, 2026, it published a proposed rule titled “Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance” (Docket OMB-2026-0034), scheduled to take effect October 1, 2026. It is the most far-reaching change to federal grant administration in more than a decade, affecting every nonprofit, heritage organization, local government, and institution that receives federal funding. In short, it would codify the ad hoc actions of the past year into legally enforceable policy — and make them much harder to challenge in court.

What concerns us.

OMB has described the proposal as improving transparency, accountability, and oversight. We support those goals. But a careful review reveals several provisions that raise serious concerns.

The rule would insert senior political appointees into the grant approval process for all discretionary awards, giving them authority to approve, reject, or slow-walk grants based on whether projects advance the administration’s priorities — replacing the objective, merit-based review that has governed federal heritage funding.

It would also allow agencies to end grants at any time if they decide an award no longer serves “agency priorities or the national interest” — terms the rule leaves undefined. That is the same standard IMLS used in the termination notices it sent to museums in 2025. For Freedom’s Frontier, it would make a repeat of last year’s funding freeze easier to execute and harder to fight.

Finally, the rule imposes significant new requirements on pass-through organizations like Freedom’s Frontier that distribute federal funds to subrecipients rather than spending them directly. As a pass-through, Freedom’s Frontier is responsible for ensuring that every one of its 200+ partner sites across 41 counties complies with whatever conditions the federal government attaches to its awards. Under the proposed rule, those conditions would expand substantially, adding new monitoring, reporting, and oversight obligations that flow downstream to our partners. For many of the small museums, historical societies, and community organizations in our network — organizations that operate with limited staff and no dedicated grants compliance capacity — these requirements would represent a barrier to participation and could effectively price smaller partners out of receiving grant funding altogether.

What is at stake for our region.

The consequences of this rule would be felt right here at home — in the communities, classrooms, and local economies that Freedom’s Frontier and its partners serve every day.

Federal grant funding supports tourism and visitor spending at heritage sites across eastern Kansas and western Missouri — dollars that flow directly into local hotels, restaurants, and small businesses, particularly in rural communities with few other economic anchors. It funds historic preservation work that, once interrupted, cannot simply be paused and restarted. It supports Bus on Us and similar programs that make free field trips possible for students who would otherwise never visit the sites that shaped this region’s history. And it underwrites the regional history education that ensures future generations understand where they come from and why it matters.

Just two weeks ago, Freedom’s Frontier awarded more than $80,000 in grants to partner organizations across the heritage area. That funding supports real projects and real programming in communities that depend on it. The proposed rule would place the stability of every active grant at risk, subject to termination whenever a political appointee decides a project no longer advances current priorities.

Why your comment matters.

Federal law requires OMB to read and respond to every substantive public comment before issuing a final rule. The record built during this window is the foundation for every legal and political challenge that follows. Comments that describe real operational impacts in specific, concrete terms carry the most weight.

You do not need to be a policy expert. You need only describe what Freedom’s Frontier means to your organization and your community — and what would be lost if that support became less reliable, less predictable, or subject to political interference.

How to participate.

Visit  this link  and click “SUBMIT A PUBLIC COMMENT.” We have prepared sample comment language on  our website  for both partner organizations and individual supporters that you are welcome to personalize and use.

The deadline is midnight EDT on Monday, July 13, 2026. Please share this message with your networks. Board members, staff, volunteers, educators, and community members all have standing to comment, and we encourage each of them to do so. A flood of comments near the deadline could cause the system to slow, so we encourage you to submit comments earlier than July 13.

The history we preserve belongs to everyone. Thank you for helping us protect it.

Warmly,

Lucinda Adams, Executive Director
Johnny Szlauderbach, Director of Strategy & Public Affairs
Kate Sutter, Director of Operations
Bethany Rather, Assistant Director of Operations & Partnerships

Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area