I 
119TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7025 
To amend title 5, United States Code, to require the implementation of 
evidence-based practices with respect to certain Federal grants, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 13, 2026 
Mr. YAKYM (for himself, Mr. BACON, Ms. PETTERSEN, Mr. TIMMONS, Ms. 
ROSS, and Mr. MOORE of Utah) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 
A BILL 
To amend title 5, United States Code, to require the imple-
mentation of evidence-based practices with respect to 
certain Federal grants, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Evidence-Based 
Grantmaking Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT TO IMPLEMENT EVIDENCE-BASED 
PRACTICES WITH RESPECT TO CERTAIN FED-
ERAL GRANTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 3 of title 
5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after sec-
tion 315 the following: 
‘‘§ 316. Requirement to implement evidence-based 
practices with respect to certain Federal 
grants 
‘‘(a) REQUIREMENTS.—The head of a covered agency 
shall, with respect to each covered grant of the agency— 
‘‘(1) include in any notice of funding oppor-
tunity, request for proposals, or announcement with 
respect to the grant a clearly defined purpose for the 
grant, including clearly defined intended outcomes 
for the use of any funds provided under the grant; 
‘‘(2) prioritize awarding the covered grant— 
‘‘(A) to applicants that have— 
‘‘(i) implemented practices that are 
evidence-based; and 
‘‘(ii) demonstrated in the application 
for the grant that the applicant will use 
the funding for such practices to achieve 
results compatible with the purpose for the 
grant (as defined in the notice of funding 
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opportunity, request for proposal, and or 
announcement for the grant); 
‘‘(B) to applicants— 
‘‘(i) that submit applications that are 
responsive to community needs; and 
‘‘(ii) from organizations located in or 
representative of the community in which 
the grant seeks to serve; and 
‘‘(C) in accordance section 200.202 of title 
2, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor 
regulation); 
‘‘(3) require recipients of a covered grant to use 
practices that are evidenced-based in providing any 
services to the public or a specific community using 
funds provided under such grant; and 
‘‘(4) acting through the Evaluation officer of 
the agency— 
‘‘(A) in accordance with subsection (b), 
conduct periodic evaluations that are evidence- 
based during the term of the covered grant to 
determine, with respect each activity carried out 
using funds provided under the covered grant, 
whether such funds are being used effectively to 
achieve the intended outcomes for the use of 
funds provided under the grant (as defined in 
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the notice of funding opportunity, requests for 
proposal, or announcement for the grant); 
‘‘(B) establish a process by which such 
evaluations are to be conducted; 
‘‘(C) make the results of such evaluations 
available to the public; and 
‘‘(D) use such results to inform decision 
making in the development of future notices of 
funding opportunity, requests for proposal, or 
announcements for the grant. 
‘‘(b) EVALUATION.—In carrying out each evaluation 
required by subsection (a)(3), each Evaluation officer shall 
adhere to Federal program evaluation standards, includ-
ing by using the different types of evaluation, such as im-
pact, outcome, process or implementation, and formative 
evaluation, in carrying out such evaluation. 
‘‘(c) AGENCY REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The head of 
each covered agency shall submit an annual report to Con-
gress on the activities carried out by the head of each cov-
ered agency under this section. 
‘‘(d) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The head of each 
covered agency may provide technical assistance to recipi-
ents of grants of the agency in carrying out any require-
ment established pursuant to this section. 
‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
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‘‘(1) COVERED
AGENCY.—The term ‘covered 
agency’ means the following: 
‘‘(A) Department of Agriculture. 
‘‘(B) Department of Commerce. 
‘‘(C) Department of Education. 
‘‘(D) Department of Energy. 
‘‘(E) Department of Health and Human 
Services. 
‘‘(F) Department of Homeland Security. 
‘‘(G) Department of Housing and Urban 
Development. 
‘‘(H) Department of the Interior. 
‘‘(I) Department of Justice. 
‘‘(J) Department of Labor. 
‘‘(K) Department of Transportation. 
‘‘(L) Department of the Treasury. 
‘‘(M) Department of Veterans Affairs. 
‘‘(N) The Environmental Protection Agen-
cy. 
‘‘(O) The Small Business Administration. 
‘‘(2) COVERED
GRANT.—The term ‘covered 
grant’ means a grant made by the head of the cov-
ered agency for the purpose of the recipient of such 
grant providing a service to the public or specific 
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community using the funds provided under such 
grant. 
‘‘(3) FEDERAL PROGRAM EVALUATION STAND-
ARDS.—The term ‘Federal program evaluation 
standards’ means standards and practices described 
in the Office of Management and Budget Memo-
randum M–20–12 (relating to the implementation of 
the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking 
Act of 2018 and Program Evaluation Standards and 
Practices).’’. 
(b) DEFINITION AND APPLICATION OF THE TERM 
‘‘EVIDENCE-BASED’’.— 
(1) OMB GUIDANCE.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Director shall issue to the heads of covered 
agencies guidance on how to define and apply 
the term ‘‘evidence-based’’ for the purpose of 
implementing section 316 of title 5, United 
States Code (as added by subsection (a)). 
(B) CONTENTS.—The guidance issued by 
the Director under subparagraph (A) shall pro-
vide the head of each such agency the flexibility 
to define or apply the term ‘‘evidence-based’’ in 
a manner— 
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(i) that aligns with the mission and 
programs of the agency; and 
(ii) consistent with Federal program 
evaluation standards. 
(2) AGENCY GUIDANCE.—Not later than 1 year 
after the Director issues the guidance required by 
paragraph (1), the head of each covered agency, act-
ing through the Evaluation officer of the agency, 
shall— 
(A) define the term ‘‘evidence-based’’ for 
the purposes of implementing section 316 of 
title 5, United States Code, with respect to the 
covered grants of the agency— 
(i) in accordance with such guidance; 
(ii) in a manner consistent with Fed-
eral program evaluation standards; 
(iii) after publishing a notice in the 
Federal Register that includes— 
(I) a proposed definition of such 
term; and 
(II) a description of how the 
community engagement practices, evi-
dence-based standards, and evaluation 
requirements of such section will be 
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applied by the agency to such grants; 
and 
(iv) after providing an opportunity for 
public comment regarding such proposed 
definition, not later than the date that is 
60 days after the publication of the notice 
required by clause (iii); 
(B) establish a framework for identifying 
applicants proposing to implement practices 
that are evidence-based, for the purpose of 
prioritizing the award of covered grants to such 
applicants 
in 
accordance 
with 
section 
316(a)(2)(A) of title 5, United States Code; 
and 
(C) make such definition and framework 
available to the public. 
(3) IMPLEMENTATION.—Beginning on the date 
that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of 
this section, the head of each agency shall implement 
the framework established by the head of the agency 
under paragraph (2)(B) with respect to each covered 
grant of the agency. 
(c) APPLICATION.—Beginning on the date that is 180 
days after the head of a covered agency makes the defini-
tion required by subsection (b)(2)(A) for that agency 
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available to the public in accordance with such subsection, 
section 316 of title 5, United States Code, shall apply to 
each covered grant of the agency, where practicable. 
(d) REPORTS.— 
(1) INITIAL
IMPLEMENTATION
REPORT
TO 
OMB.—Not later than 180 days after the head of a 
covered agency makes the definition and framework 
required by subsection (b)(2)(B) available to the 
public in accordance with such subsection, the head 
of the agency shall submit to the Director a report 
on how the head will implement the requirements of 
section 316 of title 5, United States Code, with re-
spect to the covered grants for the agency that in-
cludes an initial list of covered grants with respect 
to which the head of the agency will be imple-
menting the framework. 
(2) INITIAL IMPLEMENTATION REPORT TO CON-
GRESS.—Beginning on the date that is 1 year after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, and each year 
thereafter until the date that is 5 years after the 
date of such enactment, the Director of OMB shall 
submit an annual report to Congress on the progress 
of implementing the provisions of this Act that in-
cludes, with respect to the year preceding the re-
port— 
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(A) progress on— 
(i) defining the term ‘‘evidence-based’’ 
for the purposes of implementing section 
316 of title 5, United States Code, with re-
spect to the covered grants; and 
(ii) implementing evidence-based prac-
tices with respect to the covered grants in-
cluded on the list required by paragraph 
(1); 
(B) comprehensive details on how the head 
of each covered agency is defining, integrating, 
and implementing the framework required by 
subsection (b)(2)(B) for the covered grants of 
the agency; and 
(C) an assessment of whether the heads of 
covered agencies are implementing the provi-
sions of this Act, and the amendments made by 
this Act, in similar or divergent manners, and 
any recommendations on where greater align-
ment in such implementation may improve or 
streamline the application process for persons 
seeking multiple grants. 
(3) ANNUAL OMB REPORT.—Beginning on the 
date that is one year after the framework required 
by subsection (b)(2)(B) has begun to be imple-
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mented by the heads of covered agencies, and each 
year thereafter, the Director of OMB shall submit a 
report to Congress on the extent to which the head 
of covered agencies have used such framework in 
awarding grants, including— 
(A) the number of covered grants with re-
spect to which the head has used such frame-
work; and 
(B) select examples of grants of the cov-
ered agency with respect to which the head of 
the covered agency has successfully used such 
framework to select the recipients of such 
grant. 
(4) FUTURE GRANTMAKING.—Not later than 1 
year after the head of a covered agency has begun 
to implement the framework established by the head 
of the agency in accordance with subsection 
(b)(2)(B), the head of such agency shall submit to 
the Director a comprehensive report that— 
(A) identifies best practices for future 
grantmaking by the agency; and 
(B) makes recommendations for future im-
provements to the strategies the agency uses to 
evaluate grants under section 316(a)(3) of title 
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