This week’s Federal Update covers Congressional and Executive Branch activities of interest in Washington, D.C.
Congressional Activities of Interest
Floor Activity
The House and Senate were both in session this week. The House voted to pass a Continuing Resolution for FY25 (described below). The Senate voted to confirm Lori Chavez-DeRemer to be Secretary of Labor.
FY25 Appropriations
On March 11, the House passed a continuing resolution (CR) funding the federal government through the end of fiscal year 2025 (September 30). The FY25 CR (H.R. 1968), as passed by the House, increases defense spending by $6 billion and cuts non-defense spending by $13 billion. All FY25 earmarks were eliminated in the House-passed CR. The bill includes cuts to the Department of Defense (DOD) Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation accounts and cuts to DOD’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) from $1.51 billion to $650 million (a 57% cut from FY24 levels).
The Senate is expected to vote on the House-passed CR on Friday, March 14. The federal government will shut down if President Trump has not signed the bill by 11:59pm on March 14.
Bills Introduced
Veteran Education Assistance Adjustment Act - H.R. 1965: This bill was introduced by Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM), which would increase the GI Bill book and supply stipend from $1,000 to $1,400. This stipend has not been increased since 2008.
Students Bill of Rights Act - H.R. 2057: Reintroduced by Rep. Erin Houchin (R-IN), H.R. 2057 mandates transparency in the distribution of student fees and security fees assessed to student organizations. The bill also requires disclosure of safety protocols for campus speakers.
NCAA Accountability Act - S.955: Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced the NCAA Accountability Act, which would establish due process protections for student-athletes, coaches, and universities that are under investigation by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for rule violations. Read a press release on the bill here.
No Tax Dollars for Encampments Act - S. 982: Senator Jim Banks (R-IN) has reintroduced a bill to require institutions of higher education to disclose policies relating to responding to incidents of civil disturbance.
Hearings This Week
On March 11, The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust held a hearing titled "Antitrust Law and the NCAA: Examining the Current Climate," focusing on the NCAA’s rules regarding Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) payments, athlete transfers, and eligibility, and the potential antitrust implications of these regulations. Watch here.
Executive Branch Activities of Interest
U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights Sends Letters to 60 Universities
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has issued letters to 60 universities, including Indiana University Bloomington, regarding potential enforcement actions for failing to address antisemitic discrimination on campus. The letters emphasize the universities' obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which mandates protection against discrimination based on race or national origin, including shared Jewish ancestry. Last week, OCR directed its enforcement staff to immediately prioritize resolving the backlog of complaints alleging antisemitic violence and harassment at the OCR.
NIH Centralizes Peer Review
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced a plan to consolidate the first level of its grant peer-review process under the Center for Scientific Review (CSR), a move made in an attempt to save $65 million. The NIH announced that the change aims to improve efficiency, consistency, and competition across the agency’s review process. Read more here.
Executive Branch Cancels $400M in Federal Grants and Contracts to Columbia University
Late last week, the Trump administration’s multi-agency Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, including the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, and the U.S. General Services Administration, announced that they are immediately canceling approximately $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University, including $250 million from the National Institutes of Health, due to Columbia’s “continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.” The task force said that the cancellations represented only “the first round of action and additional cancellations are expected to follow.”
U.S. Department of Education Initiates 50% Reduction in Force
On March 11, the Department of Education announced that it has initiated a reduction in force (RIF) that would affect nearly 50% of its workforce and that it will start placing staff on administrative leave beginning Friday, March 21. The department noted that it will “continue to deliver on all statutory programs that fall under the agency’s purview, including formula funding, student loans, Pell Grants, funding for special needs students, and competitive grantmaking.”
The layoffs, which reduce the department's staff from over 4,100 to fewer than 2,200 employees, align with President Trump and Secretary Linda McMahon’s broader goal of shrinking federal oversight in education.
IU’s federal relations team understands that the Department’s International and Foreign Language Education (IFLE) Program – also known as Title VI – has been abolished as part of this effort. We are working to understand the extent to which this information is true.