OMB Releases Budget Guidelines, Restricts Federal Travel Expenditures

This May, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo of guidelines to executive departments and agencies focused on reducing agency budgets for travel, conferences, real estate, and vehicle fleet management. The guidelines, as well as the related OMB blog post, pointed to these measures as increasing government stewardship of taxpayer money, enhancing efficiency in government spending, and strengthening accountability in budget expenditures. Many scientific societies are monitoring the impacts of the guidelines on scientific conferences.