Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
An agency suspends a recipient's award under 200.339(c) after a serious, unresolved audit finding, halting new spending until a corrective action plan is accepted.
- Is an instance
An agency both suspends an award under 200.339(c) and initiates a separate suspension-and-debarment proceeding under Part 180 against the recipient organisation.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A PI voluntarily pausing recruitment while awaiting an IRB amendment is an internal management decision, not a sponsor-imposed suspension under 200.339, unless and until the sponsor is notified and takes its own action.
Editorial commentary
Suspension is one of several remedies a federal agency or pass-through entity may use when a recipient or subrecipient fails to comply with the Constitution, federal statutes, regulations, or the terms of the award, and the agency has determined that imposing specific conditions (2 CFR 200.208) will not fix the problem. Under 2 CFR 200.339, once that threshold is met, the agency may temporarily withhold payments, disallow costs, suspend or terminate the award in part or in whole, withhold further federal funds, initiate suspension or debarment proceedings, or pursue other available remedies — and it may use more than one of these at once.
Two different things both called “suspension”
200.339 itself lists two distinct actions under this name, and conflating them is a common mistake. Paragraph (c) covers suspending — or terminating — the award itself, in part or entirely: a temporary or permanent halt to activity and spending on that specific award. Paragraph (d) covers initiating suspension or debarment proceedings under 2 CFR Part 180: a separate, government-wide exclusion process that can bar the recipient from receiving any new federal awards at all, not just the one in question. An award can be suspended under (c) without the recipient ever facing Part 180 debarment proceedings under (d).
What happens during an award suspension
While an award is suspended under (c), the recipient must generally stop new spending and new project activities on that award. Pre-existing obligations already committed before the suspension — ongoing payroll for the current pay period, for example — may continue only if specifically authorised by the agency; suspension does not automatically terminate every existing commitment. Suspension can be lifted once the underlying concern is resolved — a revised plan accepted, personnel replaced, an audit finding closed — or, if unresolved, it can escalate into termination.
Not the same as an internal pause
A sponsor-imposed suspension under 200.339 is a formal, agency-initiated action with real compliance consequences. It is not the same as an institution’s own internal hold on a project — for example, a PI voluntarily pausing recruitment pending an IRB amendment — which carries no sponsor-side remedy implications unless and until the sponsor is notified and takes its own action.
References
- 2 CFR 200.339 (Remedies for noncompliance), 200.208 (Specific conditions), 2 CFR Part 180 (suspension and debarment) — Uniform Guidance, primary source verified via direct eCFR API fetch, 2026-08-22.
Also known as
Award suspension · Grant suspension
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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