The General Services Administration’s (GSA) January 28, 2026 Federal Register notice, “Information Collection; System for Award Management Registration Requirements for Financial Assistance Recipients,” signals a significant potential shift in the compliance obligations attached to federal financial assistance. The notice proposes revising the Financial Assistance General Representations and Certifications in the System for Award Management (SAM) to align with the Department of Justice’s July 29, 2025 guidance on “unlawful discrimination and Executive Order 14173.” Comments are due by March 30, 2026.

Under existing federal requirements, most applicants and recipients of federal financial assistance must register in SAM and maintain an active registration for as long as an application is under consideration or an award remains active. This change is intended to ensure that organizations conform to the Department of Justice’s July 29, 2025 guidance for recipients of federal funding regarding unlawful discrimination, as well as Executive Order 14173, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.”

Although framed as an information collection revision, the proposal has broader significance because certifications made in SAM often function as gateways to eligibility and continued participation in federal funding programs. As a result, the proposed revisions should be understood not merely as administrative adjustments, but as a potential expansion of the compliance representations expected of financial assistance recipients.

The proposal aims to make SAM registration a substantive compliance checkpoint for entities receiving federal financial assistance, including grants, cooperative agreements, loans, insurance, and direct appropriations. Recipients will face heightened scrutiny of their own policies and programs as well as oversight of subrecipients, contractors, and other third parties supported with federal funds. This uses a routine registration and certification process to embed the administration’s policy of “anti-DEI” into the federal financial assistance framework. That may create legal ambiguity, compliance uncertainty, and a strong incentive for overcorrection by recipients that wish to avoid certification risk. Universities, nonprofits, state and local governments, minority business support organizations, and vendors serving federally funded entities should treat this notice as an early warning that financial assistance certifications may soon carry significantly greater substantive and enforcement consequences.

Summary of the Proposal

The proposal requires recipients to certify compliance with the DoJ guidance, cited by GSA, which emphasizes that recipients of federal funding may face risk not only for their own allegedly unlawful practices, but also for knowingly “supporting or funding discriminatory conduct by third parties.” This potentially extends compliance concerns beyond internal personnel rules or public statements and into program operations, subawards, technical assistance arrangements, vendor relationships, and other funded partnerships. The agency specifically requests comment on the necessity of the collection, the accuracy of its burden estimates, the clarity of the information sought, and ways to reduce burden through technology or other means.

Key Concerns for Recipients

SAM certifications as an enforcement tool. What was once largely an administrative certification could become a substantive attestation regarding the legality of institutional practices, funded programs, and third-party relationships.

Legal ambiguity. Under DOJ guidance and Executive Order 14173, recipients may face uncertainty over which access, outreach, or targeted support programs remain clearly lawful, which require revision, and which may create certification risk.

Third-party exposure. Because the guidance extends risk to contractors, grantees, and other federally supported partners, recipients may need to strengthen subrecipient oversight, procurement review, partner vetting, and downstream compliance controls.

Overcompliance and program retrenchment. To avoid scrutiny, some recipients may scale back or eliminate lawful outreach, diversity-related initiatives, technical assistance, fellowships, or business support programs.

Conflict with other obligations. A stricter SAM certification regime may conflict with other legal, contractual, philanthropic, or accreditation expectations that still support inclusion, targeted outreach, community investment, or supplier diversity.

Potential Impact By Sector

Universities and Colleges | May require review of scholarships, fellowships, student support programs, faculty recruitment, research partnerships, and supplier diversity practices.
Nonprofits and Foundations | May face pressure to revisit eligibility criteria, outreach strategies, partnerships, and grantmaking structures, especially where programs serve underserved communities.
State and Local Governments | May need stronger oversight and documentation for pass-through funding, community investment programs, and subrecipient relationships.
Minority business organizations and supplier diversity advocates | May face a chilling effect as recipients become more cautious about outreach, technical assistance, incubators, and inclusion-focused initiatives.
Software and enterprise technology vendors | May see increased demand for compliance tools supporting documentation, audit trails, workflow controls, certification management, access controls, and third-party oversight.

What You Can Do

For recipients, the central takeaway is that this proposal is not merely administrative. It signals a broader compliance environment in which federal financial assistance may carry heightened scrutiny regarding program design, institutional policies, downstream partnerships, and certification accuracy. Organizations that rely on federal funding should begin reviewing their exposure now and consider submitting comments before the March 30, 2026 deadline.

Please submit comments only and cite Information Collection “3090-0290, System for Award Management Registration Requirements for Financial Assistance Recipients”, in all correspondence related to this collection. Federal Register :: Information Collection; System for Award Management Registration Requirements for Financial Assistance Recipients

Public comments are particularly invited on:

• Whether this collection of information is necessary;
• whether it will have practical utility;
• whether our estimate of the public burden of this collection of information is accurate, and based on valid assumptions and methodology;
• ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and
• ways in which we can minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, through the use of appropriate technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology.