Competitive research grants at IES ground to a near standstill soon after the second Trump administration came in. The agency abruptly canceled or delayed research competitions for fiscal 2025 that had already been announced. In a later wave slotted for December, IES plans to launch competitions for the agency’s two major field-initiated research grants, one for general research in education and one for special education research. Meanwhile, the two field-initiated education research grant opportunities historically have been treated as the crown jewels of IES’ research portfolio in part because they are the most flexible. Even once the Department of Education has gained access to IES funding, though, the agency has spent it unusually slowly.