FY 2023 APPROPRIATIONS NEWS
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McConnell Holds the Cards in Spending FightSenate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) is calculating whether he wants to strike a deal with Democrats on a year-end spending package before Republicans take control of the House in January. McConnell signaled to colleagues before the election that he favored passing an omnibus spending package before the end of the year, but that was before Senate Republicans fell short of expectations on Election Day, fueling conservative calls for new GOP leadership. Senate Republican sources say McConnell will want to hear from fellow GOP senators at lunch meetings this week before deciding whether to agree to an omnibus spending package, which would likely include tens of billions of dollars in military and economic aid for Ukraine—a top McConnell priority. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said Monday that he’s offered Republicans a top-line spending number, which would include defense and nondefense discretionary spending levels. ( The Hill - Nov. 29, 2022)
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Lame Duck AgendaIn the final month of the 117th Congress, lawmakers are hoping to pass an appropriations bill to fund the government for the fiscal year, codify protections for same-sex and interracial marriages, and push through the annual defense reauthorization bill, among other priorities. Higher education lobbyists are watching the appropriations process closely and would like to see the Senate sign off on an expansion of Pell Grants for short-term programs and the College Transparency Act—both of which passed the House of Representatives in February. Others are cautiously hopeful that Congress could approve protections for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. ( Inside Higher Ed - Nov. 29, 2022)
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A New Push to Make Financial-aid Offers More Transparent[F]inancial-aid offers are often downright confusing. A new national initiative intends to change that. On Tuesday the leaders of 10 higher-education associations plan to announce the formation of a task force that aims to enhance the “clarity, accuracy, and consistency” of financial-aid offers, the main tool colleges use to communicate eligibility for federal, state, and institutional financial-aid programs to students. M. Peter McPherson, president emeritus of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities and chairman of the task force, told The Chronicle that its members plan to develop a set of standards and principles for colleges. ( The Chronicle of Higher Education - Nov. 29, 2022)
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Student Loan-payment Freeze Extended as Courts Weigh Debt ReliefThe Biden administration announced Tuesday that it will again extend a pandemic-era pause on payments for federal student loans as courts weigh the fate of its debt forgiveness program. The payment pause, which was first implemented during the Trump administration and extended multiple times, had been set to end on Dec. 31. Officials had hoped to have forgiven some debt by then so borrowers’ balances would be lower, or in some cases wiped altogether, before payments resumed. But Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said the department will extend the pause again until the courts reinstate Biden’s debt relief program or resolve ongoing lawsuits. Payments will resume 60 days after the department is allowed to implement the program or the litigation is resolved, officials said. If that hasn’t happened by June 30, payments will resume 60 days later or on Sept. 1, the department said. ( The Washington Post - Nov. 22, 2022)
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Quiet on Debt ReliefAs legal battles have been waged over the Biden administration’s plan to forgive billions in federal student loans, the associations representing colleges and universities have stayed out of the fight. Many of the key associations, such as the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, issued statements of support after President Biden announced the debt relief while also backing more comprehensive measures to address college affordability, including doubling the maximum Pell Grant award, which is $6,895 for the 2022–23 academic year. Other groups issued similar statements but have been largely silent since. So far, no Washington-based higher education interest group has submitted a brief in support of the administration’s position. ( Inside Higher Ed - Nov. 28, 2022)
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ICE Needs More Data to Monitor Foreign Students Taking U.S. Research, Watchdog SaysImmigration and Customs Enforcement may need to update one of its databases to capture more data about the risk of foreign entities obtaining U.S. technology via international students, according to a Government Accountability Office report released on Tuesday. GAO noted that agencies have identified several factors that indicate the type of students that may pose the greatest risk of transferring technology to a foreign entity . . . . While ICE maintains a database for some of these factors—the number of graduate students from countries that pose a concern for the transfer of technology and students studying STEM that are identified as more likely to be involved in sensitive research—it has not determined if this database needs to be updated to include other data related to these risks. As a result, GAO concluded that ICE’s data is likely incomplete. ( Nextgov - Nov. 16, 2022)
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Should Fine Arts and Communications Qualify as STEM Degrees?Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security expanded opportunities for international students who have earned U.S. degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics to extend their stays in the United States. Many of the 22 new qualifying fields of study on the updated government list, including general forestry, cloud computing and geobiology, fall within conventional understanding of STEM fields. Others, such as human-centered technology design and data visualization, live in the intersection of science and the arts. Since colleges vary in the language they use to identify degree programs, they are welcome to align their course outcomes to DHS curriculum requirements and make the case that their degrees warrant inclusion on the STEM Designated Degree Program List. ( Inside Higher Ed - Nov. 29, 2022)
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Fauci’s Farewell: His Legacy, The New Booster and Forthcoming Congressional OversightThe face of the federal government’s COVID-19 response who has had a 50-plus-year career in federal service used his likely last appearance at the White House podium on Tuesday to encourage Americans to get their updated booster shot as the nation heads into its third pandemic winter. In December, Dr. Anthony Fauci, 81, will be leaving his positions as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, chief of the NIAID Laboratory of Immunoregulation and chief medical advisor to President Biden in order to “pursue the next chapter of my career” he said in a statement back in September. Fauci has served under seven presidents—both Republican and Democratic—and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2008 for his work to advance treatment and understanding of HIV/AIDS. ( Nextgov - Nov. 28, 2022)
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