NIH Government Shutdown Impact: What Happens to Grants, Reviews, and Payments

A lapse in federal appropriations — commonly called a “government shutdown” — does not close the National Institutes of Health, but it does pause most of the work that keeps NIH-funded research moving: new grant applications stop being processed, study sections are postponed, Notices of Award go unissued, and most NIH staff are furloughed. This has not been a one-off event. Fiscal year 2026 alone has included a shutdown that began October 1, 2025, a renewed funding lapse starting January 30, 2026, and a further gap that ran into the spring before full-year FY2026 appropriations were finally completed in stages between April and June 2026. In July 2026, the House passed a short-term continuing resolution (H.R. 9770) to fund the government through December 4, 2026 and avoid a shutdown before the midterm elections; as of this writing that bill had not yet cleared the Senate. For research administrators and principal investigators, understanding what actually changes during a lapse — and what doesn’t — is now a recurring operational need rather than a rare contingency.

Where things stand right now

• October 1, 2025: Federal funding lapsed after Congress did not complete FY2026 appropriations; NIH activated its shutdown contingency plan.
• November 12, 2025: A continuing resolution reopened the government, funding agencies through January 30, 2026.
• January 30, 2026: The continuing resolution expired and a further partial funding lapse began, again affecting NIH extramural operations.
• April–June 2026: Congress completed FY2026 appropriations in stages (the last major gap, tied to a Department of Homeland Security funding bill, closed by early June 2026).
• July 21, 2026: The House passed a clean stopgap continuing resolution funding the government through December 4, 2026, intended to avoid a shutdown ahead of the midterm elections. Senate action was still pending at time of writing.

Because FY2026 funding has already lapsed and been restored more than once, NIH’s contingency guidance for a lapse in appropriations is not hypothetical — it has been exercised repeatedly this fiscal year, and the same mechanics apply to any future lapse, including a possible one after December 4, 2026 if Congress does not act again by then.

What actually happens to NIH grants during a shutdown

NIH publishes shutdown-specific guidance in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts each time a lapse occurs or is anticipated — during FY2026 this included notices such as NOT-OD-26-011 (“NIH Operates Under a Continuing Resolution”), NOT-OD-26-036 (“Information for the NIH Extramural Community During the Lapse of Federal Government Funding”), and NOT-OD-26-012 (“Updated Guidance on Reopening of NIH Extramural Activities Following the October 1, 2025 Lapse in Appropriations”). These notices, not general news coverage, are the authoritative source once a specific lapse is underway — always check the current NIH Guide before acting on guidance written for a prior lapse. The general pattern across NIH’s shutdown contingency plans, consistent with how NIH and other HHS agencies have handled prior lapses (including 2013 and 2018–2019), is described below.

New and pending grant applications

Electronic submission systems — Grants.gov and NIH ASSIST for multi-project applications — typically remain open during a lapse, and applicants are generally expected to submit by their normal deadlines. What stops is NIH’s internal processing: application receipt confirmation, referral to an Institute or Center, and assignment for review are paused until funding resumes. Applications submitted during a lapse are processed once NIH reopens, not lost or required to be resubmitted, but the review timeline for that cycle slips by roughly the length of the lapse.

Study section and peer review meetings

The study section meetings run by NIH’s Center for Scientific Review, along with Institute and Center-level review meetings, are routinely postponed and rescheduled when a lapse falls during a review cycle. A rescheduled meeting pushes summary statements, and therefore funding decisions for that round, back accordingly — this is one of the more disruptive effects for applicants tracking a specific council round or fiscal-year funding target.

Non-competing continuation awards and Notices of Award

Multi-year NIH awards are typically funded one budget period (year) at a time; each new year depends on NIH issuing a fresh Notice of Award for that non-competing continuation. If a grant’s next budget period starts during a lapse and the Notice of Award has not yet been issued, that funding action is generally held until appropriations are restored — the grant itself is not terminated, but the institution cannot draw down the new year’s funds until the NoA is issued. Awards with an NoA already on file before the lapse are treated differently — see the drawdown section below.

Drawing down funds on existing awards

For funds already obligated under a Notice of Award issued before the lapse began, institutions have generally continued to be able to draw down previously awarded funds through HHS’s Payment Management System (PMS), since PMS operates on prior-year obligations rather than requiring a current appropriation to process each request. This has been the pattern reported by research offices during the FY2026 lapses. It is not a guarantee for every future lapse — PMS availability and any special processing instructions should always be confirmed against the current shutdown notice in the NIH Guide, since contingency plans can vary lapse to lapse.

NIH staff availability

During a lapse, the large majority of NIH staff — including most program officers and grants management specialists — are furloughed under the agency’s contingency staffing plan; a small number of “excepted” staff remain to protect life, safety, and property (including some clinical activities at the NIH Clinical Center). Email and phone response from program staff should be expected to stop until funding resumes, so questions about a specific application or award should be directed to the sponsored programs office rather than NIH directly during the lapse itself.

What principal investigators should do

• Submit applications and required post-award reports (progress reports, financial reports) by their normal deadlines even during a lapse, through Grants.gov/ASSIST/eRA Commons, unless NIH’s current shutdown notice says otherwise for that specific lapse.
• Do not assume a delayed Notice of Award means the project has lost funding — check with the sponsored programs office before making assumptions about award status.
• Hold off on time-sensitive spending decisions tied to a not-yet-issued continuation year until the NoA is confirmed, and loop in the sponsored programs office on any effort or subaward commitments that depend on that funding arriving on schedule.
• Expect study section and council dates to move; check CSR’s study section meeting information and the specific funding opportunity announcement for updated dates rather than assuming the original schedule holds.

What research administrators and sponsored programs offices should do

• Monitor the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts directly for lapse-specific notices rather than relying on secondary summaries — NIH updates this guidance each time a lapse begins, continues, or ends, and prior-lapse notices are not automatically reissued for a new one.
• Track which active awards have an NoA on file versus which are waiting on a non-competing continuation, since drawdown continuity depends on that distinction.
• Model institutional cash-flow exposure for awards that may face delayed drawdowns or delayed continuation funding, particularly for departments or centers with thin bridge-funding reserves — this is a standard institutional preparedness step ahead of a known funding deadline such as December 4, 2026.
• Keep PIs informed with plain-language updates distinguishing what is confirmed (from an NIH Guide notice) from what is anticipated, and route all PI questions about specific awards through the institution rather than directly to NIH program staff during the lapse.
• Log any deadline extensions, meeting postponements, or processing delays that affect a specific award, in case documentation is later needed for audit or effort-reporting reconciliation.

How this differs from a routine continuing resolution

NIH operating under a continuing resolution — funding continuing at the prior year’s level while Congress finishes annual appropriations — is routine and does not, by itself, pause grant processing; it mainly affects how much NIH can commit to new and competing awards until final full-year funding is set (NIH’s own fiscal policy notices, such as NOT-OD-26-059 for FY2026, explain the operating levels in effect under a CR). A lapse in appropriations — when even a continuing resolution is not in place — is the more disruptive event described in this guide, since there is no legal authority to obligate new funds at all until Congress acts.

Frequently asked questions

Will my active NIH grant be terminated if there’s a government shutdown?

No. A lapse in appropriations does not terminate existing awards. It can delay the processing of a non-competing continuation year that hasn’t yet received its Notice of Award, and it pauses new application processing and review, but it is not a termination action.

Can I still submit an NIH application during a shutdown?

Generally yes — Grants.gov and ASSIST typically remain open for submission during a lapse, and NIH has generally expected applicants to meet standard deadlines. NIH will not process or review the application until funding resumes. Always check the current lapse-specific notice in the NIH Guide, since instructions can vary.

What happens to a study section meeting that falls during a shutdown?

It is typically postponed and rescheduled once funding resumes, which pushes back the summary statement and funding decision for that review cycle.

Can my institution still draw down funds on an existing NIH award during a lapse?

In the FY2026 lapses, institutions have generally continued to be able to draw down previously obligated funds through HHS’s Payment Management System. This has not always been guaranteed in every historical shutdown and should be confirmed against the current NIH Guide notice for any future lapse rather than assumed.

Who do I contact at NIH during a shutdown?

Most NIH program officers and grants management staff are furloughed and unavailable during a lapse. Route questions through your institution’s sponsored programs office, which can consult the current NIH Guide notice and, where necessary, reach NIH’s small excepted staff.

Related CASRAI resources

• Grants Management & Research Funding — the cluster hub for grants lifecycle, compliance, and funding-mechanism content.
• NIH Study Section — how NIH peer review panels are organized and convened.
• Sample Letter of Award (Notice of Award) — what a Notice of Award contains and what to check before relying on it.
• No-Cost Extension (NCE) — a related mechanism for extending a project period without additional funds.
• How NSF’s Budget and Appropriations Process Affects Grant Award Timing — the equivalent appropriations-timing picture at NSF.
• Departmental vs. Central Sponsored Programs Office — who at an institution typically manages this kind of disruption.
• eRA Commons ID — the system used for application and award tracking referenced above.