The DC Digest

Duke Government Relations

Duke in DC's Top News Today:

Secretary of Defense Outlines Concerns with NDAA, Includes Higher Ed Provisions
U.S. Ranks Third in New Global Innovation Index Report
Biden's SAVE Plan Gets Contradicting Court Rulings
Education Department Provides New FAFSA Updates
Post of the Week!

The Highlights 📰

Budget & Appropriations

The latest coverage on Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations that are relevant to Duke.

Duke Government Relations' primer on the federal appropriations process.

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE OUTLINES NDAA CONCERNS, INCLUDES HIGHER ED PROVISIONS

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin rceently expressed significant concerns regarding specific provisions in the House and Senate versions of the FY25 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that could hinder the Department of Defense’s strategic goals. As a reminder, we shared a letter laying out concerns from higher education associations last week. Secretary Austin shared his concerns in a letter to Senate Committee on Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed. Those provisions of concern include:

House Section 225 & 226: Restrictions on DOD funding for institutions with contracts or collaborations involving foreign entities of concern, potentially limiting the talent pool for national security research.
House Section 1077: A ban on researchers working on DOD projects from accepting foreign funding for 10 years, which Austin believes could impede technological advancement.
Senate Section 220: A requirement for DOD to enforce compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which Austin argued should be handled by the Department of Education, raising concerns about inconsistent enforcement.

The Office of Government Relations remains attentive to both the House and Senate versions of the NDAA, and will provide updates as Congress returns from its recess and moves the bills forward.

NDAA Concerns

Research

The latest updates on legislation and regulations that impact Duke's research enterprise.

US RANKS THIRD IN GLOBAL INNOVATION REPORT

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) recently released its 2024 Global Innovation Index (GII) report. The GII captures the innovation ecosystem performance of 133 economies and tracks the most recent global innovation trends. The United States ranked third in innovation economies overall behind Switzerland and Sweden. However, the United States dropped from second to fourth place in innovation inputs and from fourth to fifth in innovation outputs compared to last year's report.

Innovation Index

Student Aid, Institutional Support and Taxes

The latest updates regarding legislation and regulatory actions related to student aid, higher education institutional support, taxes and more.

NASFAA Student Aid Reference Desk

SAVE PLAN GETS CONTRADICTING RULINGS

The Biden administration experienced a brief legal victory regarding its student debt relief program this week when Southern District of Georgia Judge J. Randal Hall ruled that Georgia lacked the authority to challenge the program, transferring the case to Missouri. Less than 24 hours later, Eastern District of Missouri Judge Matthew Schelp subsequently issued a preliminary injunction blocking the program, extending Hall’s temporary restraining order. Schelp argued that allowing the debt relief would prevent necessary judicial review by higher courts.

SAVE Save and Stop

EDUCATION DEPARTMENT PROVIDES NEW FAFSA UPDATES

This week, the Department of Education shared several updates on the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) rollout. First, due to vendor issues, there will be a delay in processing corrections for 2024-25 paper FAFSAs, extending the usual 7-10 day processing time to about a month. Second, the department announced that beta testing for the 2025-26 FAFSA began on October 1. This first phase involves real student submissions, allowing applicants to list up to 20 institutions. Three more phases are planned through November 30, with the public release still set for December 1. Additionally, the department introduced new tools for institutions and contributors, including an updated student aid estimator, resources for resolving account creation issues, and a prototype FAFSA form.

FAFSA News

Post of the Week!

Manage your preferences | Opt out using TrueRemove®
Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails.
View this email online.

1201 Pennsylvania Ave.
District of Columbia, DC | 20004 United States

This email was sent to arlene.melchiorre@duke.edu.
To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.