This week’s Federal Update covers Congressional and Executive activities of interest in Washington, D.C.
Congressional Branch Activities of Interest
Floor Activity
The House and Senate are back in Session this week after a two-week recess.
Reconciliation
The House has begun marking up portions of the reconciliation package in committees. On April 29, the House Education and Workforce (E&W) Committee advanced its reconciliation bill, the Student Success and Taxpayer Savings Plan, along party lines. The bill is similar to the College Cost Reduction Act (CCRA), H.R. 6951, which passed the Committee in January 2024 and earned 153 cosponsors, but did not come to the House floor. The measure:
- Establishes risk-sharing policies requiring colleges and universities to pay the unpaid interest and principal on certain federal student loans back to the federal government.
- Eliminates Grad PLUS loans.
- Requires students to be registered for 15 credit hours per semester in order to be eligible to receive the maximum Pell Grant award and make changes to the eligibility requirements for Pell Grants for less-than-half-time students.
The E&W Committee’s plan is the first step in a long reconcilation process. The Senate will release its own version for mark up within the next few months and then both chambers will conference to come to a compromise.
The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) marked up its contribution to the reconciliation package on April 29. The HASC portion includes:
- $250 million for directed energy research.
- $250 million for “advancement of the artificial intelligence ecosystem.”
- $250 million for the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative.
Hearings
- The Senate Appropriations Committee held a hearing on “Biomedical Research: Keeping America’s Edge in Innovation.” Witnesses at the hearing focused largely on how funding uncertainties and layoffs at the National Institutes of Health and other health research agencies are affecting the future of biomedical innovation. “Proposed funding cuts, the firing of essential federal scientists, and policy uncertainties threaten to undermine the foundation for our nation’s global leadership,” said Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-ME).
- The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee met to mark up the Protecting Students on Campus Act (S. 163) and the Antisemitism Awareness Act (S. 558). The bill requires institutions of higher education to increase awareness among students on how to file Title VI civil rights complaints with the Department of Education (ED)’s Office for Civil Rights. The Antisemitism Awareness Act would require the ED to consider the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition and contemporary examples of antisemitism in determining violations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. A final vote on the bill was postponed.
Executive Branch Activities of Interest
Hundreds of National Science Foundation (NSF) Grants Cut
Late last week, news outlets reported that 700 NSF grants were terminated, adding to the hundreds terminated in prior weeks that no longer aligned with agency priorities. The terminations come after the resignation of NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. An NSF spokesperson told media that NSF Chief of Staff Brian Stone will take over as acting director until President Trump announces a replacement and the Senate votes to confirm the appointee.
White House Releases Request for Information on AI Research & Development Plan
The White House, though the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) National Coordination Office, published a request for information (RFI) soliciting input on the development of a 2025 National Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Plan.
The RFI noted that the 2025 plan “will identify the Federal strategic priorities for AI research and development, with particular attention on areas that industry is unlikely to address. Read the RFI here.
Department of Education (ED) Releases Dear Colleague Letter on Accreditation
ED has released a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) announcing official actions to comply with President Trump’s Executive Order on accreditation. The DCL informs institutions of higher education that they will no longer have to undergo a lengthy process before changing an accreditor. The DCL is linked here.