The DC Digest

Duke Government Relations

Duke in DC's Top News Today:

Shutdown Heads Into First Weekend
Dr. Letai Sworn in as Director of National Cancer Institute
DOE Cancels $7.6B in Clean Energy Projects
Update on NSF Indirect Cost Court Case
Associations Submit Duration of Status Proposed Rule Comments
Senators Unveil Bipartisan H-1B/L-1 Visa Reform Bill
New Federal Compact Proposed to Nine Universities in Exchange For Policy Commitments
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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.

LACK OF PROGRESS IN NEGOTIATIONS AS SHUTDOWN CONTINUES

With the federal government shut down as of October 1, additional higher-education impacts are beginning to emerge as agency announcements of staff furloughs provide insights into what offices are being prioritized:

NIH/HHS: More than 75% of NIH staff are furloughed, halting peer review, grant processing, and most research oversight functions.

Department of Education: Approximately 87% of the department's staff are furloughed, pausing civil rights investigations, the issuance of new grants, and the rollback of regulatory actions.

The Senate continues to reject both the GOP’s stopgap CR and the Democratic counterproposal, and negotiations remain stalled as the shutdown heads into its first weekend.

Shutdown Blog

Research

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

NEW DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE SWORN IN

This week, Dr. Anthony Letai was sworn in as director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Dr. Letai joins NCI from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute where his lab “devises methods to selectively kill cancer cells by better understanding apoptotic cell death.” In the statement accompanying his swearing in, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Jay Bhattacharya said that "Dr. Letai has been immersed in the relevant science for decades and has been on the cutting edge of how we think about cancer treatment…His drive, integrity, and expertise make him the right leader to harness the resources and talent at NCI to reverse America's cancer crisis."

Additionally, this week Dr. Letai joined Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and NIH Director Bhattacharya at the White House for a signing of an Executive Order focused on doubling funding to $100 million for the Childhood Cancer Data Initiative. According to the press release, HHS will use artificial intelligence to maximize the potential for electronic health record and claims data to inform research and clinical trial design.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TERMINATES 223 ENERGY AWARDS

The Department of Energy has abruptly canceled 321 financial awards across 223 energy projects, terminating about $7.56 billion in federal funding. The DOE claims many of the scrapped projects “did not adequately advance the nation’s energy needs” and lacked sufficient economic viability. Several cancelled projects supported research work at various universities.

Project Funding Cuts

NSF DROPS APPEAL IN INDIRECT COSTS CASE

The National Science Foundation has formally withdrawn its appeal in the case challenging its 15% cap on facilities and administrative (F&A) cost reimbursements. The First Circuit Court’s dismissal makes the June district court ruling vacating NSF’s cap final, rendering related award provisions moot. Although this case is now closed, the administration continues to defend similar caps at other agencies, and the issue may resurface through forthcoming OMB guidance on federal grants.

Immigration

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

ASSOCIATIONS SUBMIT LETTERS ON PROPOSED DURATION OF STATUS RULE

The American Council on Education (ACE) led 53 higher education organizations in submitting detailed comments urging DHS to withdraw a proposed visa rule that would eliminate “duration of status” for F-1 and J-1 visa holders and impose rigid fixed terms of admission. The letter warns that the rule would disrupt international student mobility, delay degree completion, and degrade the U.S. capacity to attract global talent. The Association of American Universities (AAU) signed the ACE-led letter and also submitted its own comment letter, highlighting how the proposal would impose burdensome extension procedures, reduce flexibility for graduate, joint-degree, and postdoctoral scholars, and risk driving talent to competing nations.

SENATORS PUSH REFORMS TO STOP H-1B ABUSE AND PROTECT U.S. WORKERS

Senators Grassley (R-Iowa) and Durbin (D-Illinois) have introduced a bipartisan H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act aimed at clamping down on the misuse of these visa categories to displace American workers and outsource jobs. The proposal would tighten wage and recruitment rules, require public job posting via a Department of Labor portal, increase enforcement capacity, and impose new limits and evidentiary standards for L-1 petitions.

Bipartisan Visa Reform Bill

Additional Federal Relations Items of Interest to Duke

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OFFERS UNIVERSITIES PREFERENTIAL FUNDING UNDER NEW COMPACT

The Trump administration has proposed a "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education," offering universities preferential federal funding in exchange for agreeing to specific policy changes. The compact includes provisions such as freezing tuition for five years, capping international undergraduate enrollment at 15%, limiting grade inflation, and requiring adherence to strict definitions of gender. The nine schools invited to consider the compact are Brown University, Dartmouth College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of Arizona, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California (USC), University of Texas at Austin, University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University.

Compact

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Government Relations Resources

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