NIH Budget; Grantmaking Executive Order; ED Under Secretary
BU IN DC
Kevin Outterson of CARB-X and the School of Law met with Office of Management and Budget officials to discuss antimicrobial resistance on August 21st.
HOUSE SIGNALS SUPPORT FOR NIH, PELL GRANTS, AND DOE SCIENCE
On Tuesday, a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee advanced a bill on party lines that would provide $46.9 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in fiscal year 2026, a slight increase over its current funding level. The figure is similar to the $48.7 billion recommended last month by the Senate Appropriations Committee, meaning key committees in both chambers have rejected the Trump Administration’s proposal to cut the agency by 40%. The bill would also preserve the maximum Pell Grant award of $7,395, while cutting the budget for Federal Work-Study programs and the Institute of Education Sciences.
On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would increase the Department of Energy Office of Science budget in fiscal year 2026 by 2% over its current funding level, but cut ARPA-E. Congress is unlikely to negotiate final spending bills before the October 1st start of the fiscal year, so a continuing resolution will be necessary to keep the government operational.
WHITE HOUSE ISSUES DIRECTIVES ON GRANTS, ADMISSIONS
On August 7th, President Donald J. Trump issued a presidential memorandum on “Ensuring Transparency in Higher Education Admissions” and an executive order on “Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking.”
- The admissions memo directs the Secretary of Education to require colleges report more data about their admitted students in order to assess whether schools are inappropriately considering race in admissions decisions. In response, the Department of Education is inviting public feedback on a proposed Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement for selective colleges and universities.
- The grantmaking order calls for political appointees to review funding opportunities and grant awards for alignment with the Administration’s priorities, for agencies to expand the pool of award recipients, for the federal government to change how it reimburses grantees for research, and for the Office of Management and Budget to update grant regulations to expand the federal government’s ability to terminate grant awards. Federal agencies have until next week to determine how they will implement the order.
BUZZ BITS…
- On August 4th, Nicholas Kent was sworn in as Under Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, overseeing policies impacting higher education and federal student aid. Kent previously served as the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Deputy Secretary of Education and held a leadership position in a trade association representing for-profit colleges.
- In August, federal agencies released their plans for implementing the Trump Administration’s “Restoring Gold Standard Science” executive order. Plans from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, and NASA outline how these agencies promote transparency in grant awards. They also indicate that future funding notices will incorporate the principles of gold standard science and encourage researchers to share negative results.
- Last week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security proposed a new rule to establish a fixed admission period for international students and scholars. The rule would replace the long-standing “duration of status” policy, which allows visa holders to remain in the U.S. for the full length of their academic or exchange program without needing to request an extension. The proposal is open for public comment through September 29, 2025.