The DC Digest

Duke Government Relations

Duke in DC's Top News Today:

Appropriations Update
Higher Ed Associations Sign on to Amicus Brief on DOE Rate Caps
AHEAD Committee Reaches Consensus
Foreign Gift Reporting Portal Opens

The Highlights 📰

Budget & Appropriations

The latest coverage on Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations that are relevant to Duke.

Duke Government Relations' primer on the federal appropriations process.

APPROPRIATIONS UPDATE

The House Appropriations Committee released a two-bill minibus package on Sunday--which has bipartisan, bicameral support--that would fund the State-Foreign Operations and Financial Services departments.

The State-Foreign Operations bill provides a total discretionary allocation of $50 billion, a nearly $9.3 billion cut (16%) below the Fiscal Year 2025 enacted level.
The Financial Services bill provides a total discretionary allocation of $26.5 billion. The defense portion of the allocation is $45 million, and the non-defense portion of the allocation is $26.3 billion. While lawmakers did not include statutory bill language preventing the Office of Management and Budget and other federal agencies from capping indirect costs in this bill, they did include strong language in the accompanying joint explanatory statement that would prohibit the OMB from modifying existing F&A rates.

The House Rules Committee is to consider the bill package this afternoon.

On Monday, the Senate advanced the three-bill minibus we mentioned last week in an 81-14 vote, sending the bill to President Donald Trump's desk for signature. That package includes language directing several agencies to continue applying the negotiated indirect cost rates used in FY24 and bars the use of FY26 funds "to develop, modify or implement changes" to those FY24 rates. Congress still has two weeks to pass the remaining funding bills before the January 30th deadline.

Click the link below to see the status of each appropriations bill in each chamber.

Appropriations Tracker

Research

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

HIGHER ED ASSOCIATIONS SIGN ON TO AMICUS BRIEF ON DOE RATE CAPS

Several higher education associations filed an amicus brief last month led by the National Alliance of Colleges and Universities Business Officers (NACUBO) against the Department of Energy (DOE) proposed cap limiting institutional reimbursements for research grant overhead costs. A federal district court judge issued an injunction in May to block this cap, and the case is currently under appeal. Other higher education agencies signed on to the filing include the Council on Governmental Relations (COGR), the National Alliance of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), the Association of American Universities (AAU) and the American Council on Education (ACE).

Brief Filed

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

AHEAD COMMITTEE REACHES CONSENSUS

On Friday afternoon, the Accountability in Higher Education and Access through Demand-driven Workforce Pell (AHEAD) committee reached consensus on the Department of Education’s proposed accountability measures related to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The Department introduced several updates, including new warning requirements for Pell‑eligible students and strengthened administrative capability standards for institutions with a number of low‑earning outcome programs. The committee also agreed to amendments that would impose additional consequences for institutions whose programs repeatedly fail the earnings‑premium metric. Now that the negotiated rulemaking session has concluded, the Department will issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the near future. Following a public comment period, the Department will draft final regulations, and the rule will become effective in July of this year.

Consensus Reached

Immigration

The latest updates on legislation and regulatory actions related to immigration that are relevant to Duke.

FOREIGN GIFT REPORTING PORTAL LAUNCHED

As of January 1, the Department of Education's new portal for foreign gift reporting is live. The website highlights the disclosures of foreign gifts to institutions of higher education as required under Section 117 of the Higher Education Act. The requirement means that higher education institutions that receive foreign gifts of $250,000 or more must disclose such gifts to the Department twice a year. We covered the portal in a digest when it was announced last month.

Government Relations Resources

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