Washington Update

House Action
While House Republicans have been hoping to pass all 12 Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations bills through the chamber before the August recess, it’s become clear that will not happen. Multiple appropriations bills were pulled from floor consideration due to insufficient support as Democrats remained united in opposition and Republicans splintered.

As a result, House leadership plans to start the summer recess following votes today. The House may try to pass appropriations bills upon lawmakers return in September, though the next steps are unclear, including reconciling divisions within the House GOP conference.   

Earlier this week, APLU President Mark Becker sent a letter to the House opposing the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education appropriations bill, citing steep 50 percent cuts to Federal Work Study and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants and the flat-funding and reorganization of the National Institutes of Health. Despite original plans to advance the bill before recess, the House did not take up the measure.

For details on appropriations levels within the bills being considered, please see APLU’s appropriations priorities chart.

Senate Action 
The Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to mark up the Commerce-Justice-Science, Interior-Environment, State-Foreign Operations, and Transportation-HUD bills today. Text of the legislation is expected shortly after the conclusion of the markup. Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) and Ranking Member Susan Collins (R-ME) reached an agreement to include $34.5 billion in emergency spending in this committee’s bills this year, with $21 billion going towards defense and $13.5 billion towards non-defense discretionary. The “emergency spending” provides additional funds for the Senate Appropriations Committee to go beyond the budget levels previously agreed to within the Fiscal Responsibility Act and sets up a showdown with the House on overall levels of spending.

Senate Introduces Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act
The Senate Armed Services Committee approved the Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which authorizes U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) programs and spending. The DOD is a substantial source of federal university funding for basic research in disciplines such as aerospace, materials, electrical, and communications engineering. The legislation authorizes topline spending of $911.8 billion – $25 billion greater than the House FY25 NDAA topline, which passed in June. Substantial bicameral, bipartisan negotiations need to occur before both chambers agree on final numbers and language.

Senate leaders could bring the bill to the floor as early as next week. APLU is engaging lawmakers as several proposed amendments could increase research security regulations. APLU will continue to engage the House and the Senate as the NDAA moves to the conference process, during which both committees will work to reconcile the differences between both bills.

House Ways and Means Marks Up University Accountability Act and Protecting American Students Act
The House Ways and Means Committee passed the University Accountability Act and the Protecting American Students Act. The timeline for potential floor consideration is not yet known. The bills are unlikely to be taken up in the Senate. In his opening statement at the markup, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO), said “legislation before us today will impose real, financial consequences on universities that continue to turn a blind eye to antisemitism while allowing a small fringe to rule their campuses.”

The University Accountability Act would subject public and private institutions to penalties if a federal court (notably not the U.S. Department of Education) finds a university in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The penalty would be the greater of $100,000 or five percent of certain executive compensation as detailed on the institution’s 990 tax documentation. Per the description, state institutions not filing a 990 form would be fined $100,000.The Protecting American Students Act would extend the endowment tax to additional private institutions by lowering the threshold to exclude non-U.S. citizens/permanent residents from the endowment-per-student calculation.

APLU and others in the higher education community sent a letter on July 11 outlining concerns with both measures.

APLU Mentioned in Congressional Research Service Report: Economic Development Programs and Higher Education
APLU was featured in a recent Congressional Research Service report titled, “Economic Development Programs and Higher Education.” The report elevates APLU’s Innovation and Economic Prosperity (IEP) program framework, which supports universities in furthering talent, innovation, and place-based economic development in their communities. The APLU program was used to describe how federal investments in research and development programs, technology transfer, and workforce development initiatives have supported university-based economic development.

White House Releases Executive Order on Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs)
The Biden administration recently released a new Executive Order announcing the “Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity Through Hispanic-Serving Institutions.”

The executive order creates a new initiative and establishes a President’s Board of Advisors on HSIs. According to the administration’s summary, the initiative will:

• Increase awareness of opportunities for HSIs to equally participate in federal programs and enhance the capacity of HSIs to meet the educational needs of their students.
• Identify best practices for HSIs to scale effective strategies, programs, and initiatives to support the educational success and economic mobility of their students.
• Improve the ability of HSIs to align program offerings with the economic needs of the nation and their local economies, especially in STEM and teaching.
• Coordinate efforts to help HSIs become or remain fiscally secure institutions.
• Foster cross-sector collaboration among HSIs and philanthropic, public, and private sector organizations.
• Strengthen federal recruitment activities at HSIs to build accessible and equal pathways into federal career opportunities for HSI students, faculty, staff, and alumni.
• Provide tools, data, and analytics to support HSIs in improving educational equity, excellence, and economic opportunity for students.

APLU, Higher Education Community Submit Letter on Visa Delays in India
APLU joined the higher education community in expressing concerns to the State Department on delays in processing F-1 and J-1 visa applications at U.S. consulates in India. The letter acknowledges action previously taken by the State Department to reduce processing times but notes 100-200 day wait times for interviews in India, as of early July. The volume of visa applications from India is expected to continue to grow over the next several years. Thus, the community requests a meeting to understand how the State Department will address this anticipated surge in applications.