Federal Funding Recipients Face New Proposed Certification

As a reminder, on January 28, 2026, the General Services Administration (GSA) published a request for comments on proposed revisions to the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) registration requirements for federal financial assistance recipients.

The proposal would revise the Financial Assistance General Representations and Certifications. It would require applicants and recipients of federal financial assistance to make additional compliance certifications tied to federal anti-discrimination law, immigration-related restrictions, and national-security/public-safety restrictions.

This update applies to organizations that seek or receive federal financial assistance through SAM.gov, including grants, cooperative agreements, loans, insurance, and direct appropriations. The public comment period closed on March 30, 2026.

What Employers Need to Do

• Review any programs, policies, or practices that use race or color directly or indirectly in hiring, promotion, scholarships, contracting, resource allocation, or access to opportunities supported by federal financial assistance.

• Reassess training content for potential stereotyping, exclusion, singling out of protected groups, or hostile work environment risks.

• Confirm that anti-retaliation protections are strong enough to protect employees, participants, and beneficiaries who raise concerns, file complaints, object to, or refuse to participate in practices they reasonably believe are unlawful.

• Review internal controls and signatory authority for SAM certifications, as the proposal would require a formal attestation by an authorized official and references potential liability for false statements.

• Coordinate legal, HR, compliance, and grant-management review now if the organization receives or plans to seek federal financial assistance, as the proposed certification would make SAM registration a more substantive compliance checkpoint.

Overview

• The GSA proposed revising the SAM.gov registration requirements for entities that seek or receive federal financial assistance, including grants, cooperative agreements, loans, insurance, and direct appropriations.

• A central proposed certification would require recipients to certify compliance with the U.S. Constitution, federal anti-discrimination laws, and relevant executive orders prohibiting unlawful discrimination on the basis of race or color in federally funded programs.

• The draft makes clear that federal anti-discrimination rules apply even to programs labeled Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) or diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA). It identifies risk areas such as race-based preferences, proxy criteria, segregation, race-based selection practices, and training content that stereotypes, excludes, singles out protected groups, or creates a hostile environment.

• The proposal includes anti-retaliation language protecting employees, participants, and beneficiaries who raise concerns, file complaints, object to, or refuse to participate in practices they reasonably believe violate federal anti-discrimination laws.

• Beyond DEI-related issues, the proposed certification would also require recipients to certify compliance with certain immigration-related and national-security or public-safety restrictions.

Why This Matters

This proposal is significant because it would move certain compliance certifications to the front end of the federal funding process by embedding them into SAM registration and renewal, rather than leaving them only to agency-specific award terms or post-award oversight.

For organizations with DEI or DEIA initiatives, the proposal signals heightened scrutiny of any race- or color-based practices, as well as of training content and complaint handling, even where the organization views those programs as lawful or well-intentioned.

The practical consequence is that SAM registration for financial assistance recipients could become a more consequential compliance checkpoint, with potential risk under the False Claims Act and false statements if an organization certifies inaccurately.

Key Risks for Employers

• Signing the certification without fully reviewing race- or color-based criteria used in hiring, promotion, scholarships, contracting, training, or resource allocation tied to federally funded programs.

• Overlooking training or complaint-handling practices that could be characterized as stereotyping, exclusionary, retaliatory, or hostile-environment conduct under the draft certification language.

• Treating SAM registration as routine administrative paperwork rather than as a substantive organizational attestation with enforcement implications.

• Failing to align legal, HR, grants, and compliance functions before an authorized official makes the certification.

• Exposure to criminal risk under 18 U.S.C. § 1001 or civil liability under the False Claims Act (FCA) if the certification is submitted with false, fictitious, or fraudulent information.

Additional Information

As of January 2026, GSA estimated that 222,760 entities registered in SAM for financial assistance could be affected by the revised certification requirements.

The draft certification includes a carveout for active court orders and injunctions: if a requirement is legally unenforceable against a recipient due to a binding court order or injunction, that requirement is inapplicable to that extent, while the remaining certifications stay in effect.

The proposal also references broader federal compliance obligations already tied to financial assistance, including Title VI, Title IX, Section 504, the Age Discrimination Act, conflict-of-interest rules, record access, trafficking, debarment and suspension, and false-claims provisions.

Source Reference

• Regulations.gov – Supporting Statement: 3090-0290 — System for Award Management Registration Requirements for Financial Assistance Recipients – DRAFT – Docket (GSA-GSA-2026-0001)
• Federal Register – Information Collection; System for Award Management Registration Requirements for Financial Assistance Recipients (January 28, 2026)

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