Policy Watch: October 2026

Date: Tuesday, September 29, 2026

Policy Watch: AEA Engages on Grantmaking, Congress Punts Until Midterms

By Nate Varnell, Consultant for the Evaluation Policy Task Force

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Welcome back to Policy Watch, and happy fall! In this issue, we cover AEA's push to improve the Education Department's grantmaking overhaul, Congress's funding resolutions, HUD's revised Evaluation Policy, and proposed changes to the 2030 Census.

AEA Pushes Education Department to Improve Grantmaking Proposal

AEA submitted public comments to the U.S. Department of Education on September 23 on its proposed changes to EDGAR, the Education Department General Administrative Regulations that govern grantmaking for federal education programs and evaluations. Read AEA’s comment letter here. The proposed rule, drawing over 5,000 comments from the public, streamlines EDGAR to align with many — but not all — of the White House’s revisions to the Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200) for federal grants, which AEA responded to in July of this year.

Through EDGAR, the Education Department has discretion in how it implements and evaluates its grants — any changes may impact how evaluators and their partners apply for projects, the methods used, and how findings are considered. AEA’s comments, developed through the AEA Evaluation Policy Task Force (EPTF) and signed by AEA President Guili Zhang, addresses three important provisions of the rule. 

1. AEA expressed support for the decision to adopt standardized definitions for “strong,” “moderate,” and “promising” evidence when reviewing grant proposals. The change allows the department to recognize a wider range of rigorous approaches to building evidence as methods and tools evolve — a benefit to evaluators. 
2. In response to the department adding “statistical expertise” as a requirement for grant peer reviewers, AEA recommended the department consider training in evaluation methods as well. This change would open more opportunities for evaluators to serve as grant reviewers.
3. Lastly, AEA raised serious concerns about evaluator independence. Similar to the revisions to the Uniform Guidance, the proposed rule would allow the department to terminate a grant award or deny further funding “for convenience” at any time, without hearings or appeal. This change could compromise the credibility and independence of evaluators — which EDGAR requires — by risking that evaluation findings could be used, or seen to be used, in termination decisions. AEA made several recommendations to protect evaluator independence if the department implements this change. 

The EPTF will be monitoring the implementation of the rule, if AEA’s comments are reflected in the final updates to EDGAR, and if similar changes to grantmaking are implemented by other federal agencies. 

Congress Punts Major Funding Decisions Until After Midterms

The House passed a resolution on September 1 funding the government through December 11, which has since been signed into law. The resolution contains a provision blocking the White House from finalizing changes to the Uniform Guidance until that same date — a temporary win on an issue social science organizations have been watching closely, though the fight returns in December. Read more about the proposed Uniform Guidance, which would introduce financial risk and instability for federal grantees and evaluators if implemented, and AEA’s response in the August newsletter.

The House is out until after the midterm elections. The Senate remains in session until October 2, then returns from recess after the midterms. As the 119th Congress comes to a close, the EPTF is looking ahead to how the incoming 120th Congress will push government-wide policy in new directions.

HUD Revises its Evaluation Policy — Signal of More to Come?

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) updated its departmental Evaluation Policy, last revised in 2021, aligning its five core standards with Executive Order 14303's principles for “Restoring Gold Standard Science.” The new policy strips out language related to promoting equity, advancing data collection on race or ethnicity, and for diversifying expert panels and research teams. The revision also simplifies the department’s methodological standards for validity, reliability, and stakeholder engagement. At the same time, the policy now requires AI-use disclosure in evaluation reporting, and aligns the standards with the GSS framework’s tenets of “communicating error,” “structuring research for falsifiability,” and conflicts of interest, among others. Commitments to independence and privacy protections remain largely intact. 

This is the first known update of a departmental Evaluation Policy to align with the GSS framework and is expected to shape how HUD plans and conducts evaluations in the future. The revisions could serve as a template for other agencies’ policies under the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act.

On the Docket: Resources & Engagement Opportunities

Opportunities to engage with policymaking, research, and the community on issues that matter to evaluation. See the Data Foundation's Expert Engagement Guides, or watch a recording of the April AEA Town Hall on engaging in the policy process at AEA's Town Halls page. Suggest entries at evaluationpolicy@eval.org! 

• The Census Bureau is seeking comments on changes to the 2030 Census that would redefine "usual residence" to exclude undocumented immigrants and some other noncitizens from apportionment counts, and drop race, ethnicity, and sexual-orientation questions from the short form. The changes would affect final population counts, federal funding formulas, and the quality of data for researchers. Comments due October 13. Read more about the proposed rule.
• On Sep. 24, Data Foundation hosted "Tested but Not Evaluated: Bringing Social Science Rigor to AI Evaluation," in which Senior Fellow Lauren Damme highlighted five gaps in current AI evaluation practice.
  • Also: check out “From Algorithms to Evidence: Using GenAI in Evaluation Practice,” a new open access book for practitioners and policymakers edited by Kerry Bruce, Valentine J Gandhi, and Steffen Bohni Nielsen.
• Results for America's "2026 Invest in What Works State Standard of Excellence" recognized 15 states for using evidence and evaluation in budgeting, grantmaking, and direct services.

Looking Ahead

The EPTF continues to monitor the changing state of federal, state, local, and Tribal government policy for the evaluation community. If you are aware of news that impacts your work or the work of other evaluators, consider providing information to the EPTF via evaluationpolicy@eval.org.

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