The DC Digest

Duke Government Relations

Duke in DC's Top News Today:

House Makes Early Progress on FY26 Bills
NIH and NSF Grant Updates
Senate Parliamentarian Rules on Several Higher Ed Provisions
New Accreditor Launches in Six Southern States
Post of the Week!

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.

HOUSE FY26 FUNDING UPDATES

The House passed the first fiscal 2026 government funding bill, covering military construction and veterans programs. The legislation provides $152 billion in discretionary spending—primarily for the Department of Veterans Affairs—and $18 billion for military construction and family housing, both increases over current funding levels.

House Republicans advanced a $66.4 billion Department of Homeland Security funding bill, including $758.7 million for the Science and Technology Directorate and reverses the administration’s proposal to terminate the Center of Excellence Program. It also includes bipartisan provisions like increased FEMA grants for nonprofit security and restoration of disaster resilience grants. The bill also adds new oversight measures, such as requiring DHS to report on recent spending and protecting the public’s right to record immigration enforcement.

Research

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

NIH HALTS FURTHER GRANT TERMINATIONS FOLLOWING COURT RULINGS

The National Institutes of Health has paused all further research grant cancellations following multiple federal court decisions declaring recent terminations unlawful. Over 2,500 grants—worth more than $3 billion—had been revoked earlier this year. While no new cancellations will proceed for now, the status of previously terminated grants remains uncertain.

NIH Cancellation Pause

JUDGE STRIKES DOWN NSF'S 15% FUNDING CAP

A federal judge has struck down the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) recent policy limiting reimbursement for colleges’ research overhead to 15%, finding it “arbitrary and capricious” and inconsistent with federal law. This decision aligns the NSF with other federal agencies, including the NIH, DOE, and DOD, all of which have faced successful legal challenges against similar caps.

NSF Cap Update

RESOURCE TRACKS PROPOSED CHANGES TO OVERHEAD COSTS AND LEGAL CHALLENGES

Higher Ed Dive has created a resource to track "agencies that have tried to limit reimbursement for overhead costs to 15% — and the legal challenges against them."

Tracker

NSF SEEKS INPUT ON TIP DIRECTORATE TECHNOLOGY FOCUS AREA

The National Science Foundation has issued a Request for Information (RFI) to gather feedback on the 10 key technology focus areas guiding its Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) Directorate, as established by the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. The RFI invites stakeholders to suggest updates, additions, or removals to ensure the areas align with national goals around global competitiveness, economic growth, security, workforce, and technology transfer.

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

SENATE PARLIAMENTARIAN REMOVES SEVERAL STUDENT AID PROVISIONS FROM RECONCILIATION BILL

The Senate’s parliamentarian has determined that several major higher education provisions in the budget reconciliation package—including expanded Pell Grants for short-term programs, consolidation of federal loan repayment into only two options, and restricting aid eligibility for non-citizen students—violate the Senate’s Byrd Rule and would require 60 votes to pass. Senate Majority Leader Thune (R-SD) has said he will not attempt to overrule the parliamentarian's rulings.

Reconciliation Update

NEW ACCREDITOR LAUNCHES AMID CONGRESSIONAL SCRUTINY

Six public university systems have launched a new accrediting body—the American Council of Regional Accreditation—to provide what they describe as a more transparent and accountable alternative to existing accreditors. The announcement this week came from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Public systems joining the State University System of Florida as partners are the University System of Georgia, the University of North Carolina system, the University of South Carolina, the University of Tennessee system, and the Texas A&M University system. The move comes as congressional Republicans push legislation that would overhaul the federal accreditation process, aiming to increase competition among accreditors and allow institutions to switch agencies more freely. Several higher ed associations have raised serious concerns about the proposed bill, warning it could undermine quality assurance and open the door to political interference in accreditation decisions.

New Accreditor

Post of the Week!

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