The DC Digest

Duke Government Relations

Duke in DC's Top News Today:

Appropriations Update
House Passes Reconciliation Bill Funding Immigration Enforcement Agencies
Senate Armed Services Committee Advances NDAA
NIH Proposes to Cap Number of Awards Per PI
Obernolte, Trahan Introduce Bipartisan AI Legislation
Trump to Nominate Jay Clayton for Director of National Intelligence

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

This week, Congress has steadily been making progress on its slew of FY27 appropriations bills, with several advancing out of subcommittee and full committee. House appropriators advanced out of committee the appropriations bills for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Labor-HHS-Education, which we wrote about last week.

The House Appropriations subcommittee passed its FY27 Department of Defense bill shortly after releasing the text this week. Provisions of interest include:

A topline of $1.07 trillion
$220.5 billion for Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E), a 51.1% or $74.6 billion increase from FY 26
Some revisions to the FY 26-27 Army, Navy, and Defense-wide RDT&E accounts

HOUSE PASSES RECONCILIATION BILL FUNDING IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES

On Tuesday, the House passed the “Reconciliation 2.0” package, providing $70 billion in funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The Senate had passed the bill earlier this month. The President signed the measure into law the following day.

Reconciliation 2.0

Research

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

SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE ADVANCES NDAA

The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) advanced its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) after markups in a closed committee session this week. The full text of the bill has yet to be released, though the panel released an executive summary of the major provisions: a topline of $1.14 trillion in defense spending, including $1 trillion for the Defense Department and $41 billion for defense-related activities at the Department of Energy (DOE). We covered the House's version of the NDAA last week. Each version of the NDAA is expected to be taken up by each chamber this summer.

NIH PROPOSES TO CAP NUMBER OF AWARDS PER PI

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has issued a request for information on a potential policy to cap the number of simultaneous research grants held by a single principal investigator (PI), outlining different approaches for potential implementation. The agency framed the effort as part of a broader funding strategy.

NIH Proposal

OBERNOLTE, TRAHAN INTRODUCE BIPARTISAN AI LEGISLATION

Last week, Reps. Jay Obernolte (R‑CA) and Lori Trahan (D‑MA) released a discussion draft of the Great American AI Act, which is intended to solicit feedback from stakeholders, experts and the public before formal introduction. The draft would establish the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource at the National Science Foundation (NSF), create a Center for AI Standards and Innovation at NIST and expand AI education programs, building on earlier bipartisan legislation introduced this year.

Trump Administration

TRUMP TO NOMINATE JAY CLAYTON FOR DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE

President Donald Trump said he will nominate Jay Clayton to become the next permanent director of national intelligence. Clayton is the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and is the former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. His nomination will require Senate approval.

Government Relations Resources

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