Washington Update

House Sends Updated Rescissions Package to President for Signature, Cutting $9 Billion in International Development and Public Broadcasting  
With the House last week passing H.R. 4, the Rescissions Act of 2025, by a vote of 216-213, the legislation heads to President Trump for signature. The measure cuts $9 billion in funding Congress had passed last year for public broadcasting and international development. The revised bill restores $400 million for the President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and protects funding for the Feed the Future Innovation Labs, a vital international agriculture research program championed by APLU and previously managed within USAID.  

This rescission package is the first of potentially several packages that may be submitted by the White House to Congress. Politico reports that the next package may include U.S. Department of Education funding. 

House, Senate Continue Advancing Annual Spending Bills this Week   
This week, the House and Senate will continue action on appropriations bills. As FY26 markups commence, APLU will continue to update the association’s appropriations  chart. APLU’s full suite of Budget and Appropriations resources is available on the association’s website. 

Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) 
The full House Appropriations Committee mark up of the CJS bill has been postponed until after Congress recesses in August. APLU sent a letter to the House Appropriations Committee urging its members to reverse course on the proposed cuts to the science research programs at NSF and NASA within the bill, arguing that they would substantially setback American superiority in science and innovation. Though not comprehensive, the draft bill includes the following funding levels for APLU appropriations priorities: 

• $7 billion for NSF (23 percent below FY25 enacted levels) 
• $6 billion NASA Science Mission Directorate (18 percent below FY25 enacted levels) 
• $913 million for NASA Space Technology Directorate (17 percent below FY25 enacted levels) 
• $58 million for NASA Space Grant (flat funding from FY25 enacted levels) 
• $667 million for NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (one percent increase about FY24 Joint Explanatory Statement) and $80 million for NOAA Sea Grant (level funding from FY24 Joint Explanatory Statement) 

Meanwhile, the Senate completed marking up its version of the bill last Thursday and released full bill text, report language, and bill summary. Of note, Section 542 addresses Facility and Administrative (F&A) costs by directing the CJS agencies to continue to apply the negotiated indirect cost rates and prohibits changes to FY24 negotiated indirect cost rates. The Senate bill provides: 

• $9 billion for NSF (less than one percent below FY25 enacted levels) 
• $7.3 billion NASA Science Mission Directorate (level funding from FY25 enacted) 
• $975 million for NASA Space Technology Directorate (11 percent below FY25 enacted levels) 
• $63 million for NASA Space Grant (8.6 percent above FY25 enacted levels) 
• $657 million for NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (less than one percent increase about FY24 Joint Explanatory Statement) and $80 million for NOAA Sea Grant (level funding from FY24 Joint Explanatory Statement) 

Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies 
The full House Appropriations Committee approved the Interior and Environment bill on Tuesday, July 22. The bill makes substantial cuts to science and research priorities within the U.S. Department of Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).  

What’s next: The bill may now go to the House floor when Congress returns from recess in September. The Senate Appropriations Committee plans to mark up its version of the funding bill tomorrow, Thursday, July 24. The draft bill includes the following funding levels for APLU appropriations priorities: 

• $522 million for EPA’s Office of Science and Technology (23 percent below FY25 enacted levels) 
• $135 million for NEH (35 percent below FY25 enacted levels) 
• $16.5 million for the Water Resources Research Act (6.5 percent increase from FY25 enacted levels) 
• $29.8 million for the Cooperative Research Units (5.7 percent increase from FY25 enacted levels) 
• $12 million for the Joint Fire Science Program (50 percent increase from FY25 enacted levels) 

The committee report also provides justification for NEH’s $135 million funding level, contrary to the White House’s call to eliminate the agency. It gives more clarity around grantmaking, outlining research, education, and cultural infrastructure priorities and recommends $72 million for State and Regional Humanities councils. 

National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs 
The bill provides a total discretionary allocation of $46.2 billion, which is $13.1 billion (22 percent) below the FY25 enacted level.  The draft bill includes the following funding levels for APLU appropriations priorities:  

• $216.8 million for higher education (21 percent below the FY25 enacted level);  
• $175 million for food security research and development, including $72 million (flat funding from FY25 enacted levels) for the Feed the Future Innovation Labs; 
• $17 million for the Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarships Program (flat funding from FY25 enacted levels); 
• $23.6 billion for global health, economic and development assistance, and humanitarian programs, which is $5.7 billion (30 percent) below the FY25 enacted level; 
• 14.55 billion for the operations of the Department of State and several related agencies with an emphasis to downsize the department’s Washington, DC footprint and to prioritize overseas operations. 

Defense 
On Friday, the House passed the Defense appropriations bill. The bill flat funds the Department of Defense at $831.5 billion. The Senate has yet to announce a markup of its version of the funding bill.  

House Veterans Affairs Committee to Mark Up GI Bill Updates 
On Wednesday, July 23, the House Veterans Affairs Committee will mark up a number of bills, including the following with relevance to higher education: 

• H.R.3854, Modernizing All Veterans and Survivors Claims Processing Act – Directs the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to report to Congress within 180 days on plans to increase automation and data sharing to improve benefits processing, with Education Service as one of five priorities. VA must provide the automation tool to program offices within one year of submitting the plan.  
• H.R. 3481, Delivering Digitally to Our Veterans Act – Directs the VA to provide an electronic correspondence system for eligible GI Bill beneficiaries, and allow opting out of paper mail. 
• H.R. 2034, Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship Opportunity Act – Makes the existing GI Bill STEM scholarship program more accessible by reducing the minimum number of credit hours required to apply from 60 to 45, and removing the requirement that applicants already exhausted their GI Bill benefits (or will exhaust them within six months). 

Supreme Court Rules U.S. Department of Education May Continue RIF While Litigation Continues 
On July 14, the Supreme Court issued an order in a 6-3 decision lifting a lower court’s hold on U.S. Departments of Education’s (ED) reduction in force (RIF) of nearly 1,400 employees. Justices Jackson, Sotomayor, and Kagan dissented. The Court allowed the RIF to move forward while litigation proceeds challenging ED’s action. 

Go Deeper: Earlier, U.S. District Court Judge Myong of the District Court for Massachusetts wrote the layoffs “will likely cripple the department.” In response to the Supreme Court order, ED Secretary Linda McMahon stated, “We will carry out the reduction in force to promote efficiency and accountability and to ensure resources are directed where they matter most – to students, parents, and teachers. As we return education to the states, this Administration will continue to perform all statutory duties while empowering families and teachers by reducing education bureaucracy.”   

The U.S. Department of Education Begins Implementing Higher Ed Provisions in One Big Beautiful Bill Act  
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced it began implementing student loan provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. In a Dear Colleague letter, ED announced that borrowers with loans between July 1, 2014 and July 1, 2026, do not need a partial financial hardship to enroll in an income-based repayment plan.  

ED will announce later this year a schedule of loan reductions for students enrolled less than full-time. After a period of public comment and review, ED will announce the updated limits for the 2026-27 academic year and beyond. As per the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, ED reinstated the Borrower Defense to Repayment and Closed School Loan Discharge regulations in effect under the previous Trump administration. 

The U.S. Department of Education Announces it Will Release $1.3 Billion Afterschool Funding; Continues Withholding $5.6 Billion in Other K-12 Formula Funding  
Last week, ED announced it will release to states $1.3 billion in 21^st Century Community Learning Centers annual formula funding for afterschool and summer programming. Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Susan Collins (R-ME) previously led a Republican letter to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought urging the immediate release of nearly $7 billion in withheld education funds for FY25 that are normally released to states July 1 for the coming school year. For most of these programs, institutions of higher education are eligible subgrantees or partners with local educational agencies. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) sent his own letter focusing on the afterschool funding in particular. 

FAFSA Updates: 2025-26 Completion Rates Return to Pre-Pandemic Levels; 2026-27 Test ISIRs Now Available  
FAFSA completion for Class of 2025 high school seniors has reached 53.9 percent, compared to about 47 percent at the comparable point last year. The latest 2025 results are comparable to the class of 2023 FAFSA cycle, which was the most recent cycle to open on time October 1, and are also comparable to the classes of 2017-19 before the pandemic. The 2025-26 FAFSA cycle remains open until June 30, 2026. 

Meanwhile, for the 2026-27 cycle, ED released test Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) institutions may use to test their processing systems before the October 1 expected FAFSA release. 

The U.S. Departments of Education and Labor Announce Interagency Agreement on Career and Technical, Adult Education 
On July 15, the U.S. Departments of Education and Labor (DOL) announced an agreement to “create an integrated federal education and workforce system.” DOL will administer Perkins Career and Technical Education (CTE) and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Title II adult education programs funded through ED. The attached fact sheet states that DOL will “manage competitions, provide technical assistance, and integrate ED’s Perkins and WIOA programs with the larger suite of workforce programs DOL already administers.” ED staff will provide “proper oversight.”   

The U.S. Department of Education Announces Dr. Matthew Soldner as NCES Acting Commissioner, Additional Political Appointees 
The U.S. Department of Education announced that Dr. Matthew Soldner will serve as Acting Commissioner of the National Center of Education Statistics (NCES). According to the press release, “Dr. Soldner will work alongside Senior Advisor Dr. Amber Northern, NCES staff, and IES staff to ensure all NCES reports and products are usable and relevant to researchers, educators, education leaders, and other stakeholders.” 

On July 16, ED announced additional appointees, including Pamela Davidson as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Higher Education, Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs; John Huston, Deputy General Counsel; Diana Díaz-Harrison, M.Ed., Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services; Meg Kilgannon, Director of Strategic Partnerships; Dr. Anna Miller, Senior Advisor, Office Special Education and Rehabilitation Services; Ellia Rosado, Digital Director; and Constantine Stanovich, Deputy Speech Writer. 

The U.S. Department of Education to Reinstate Interest Payments on SAVE Loan Repayment Plan 
The U.S. Department of Education announced that beginning August 1, student loan borrowers currently enrolled in the Biden administration Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment plan will no longer be eligible for zero interest payments while the SAVE plan is in litigation. Instead, borrowers in this plan must begin interest payments, or may switch to another repayment plan.  

The Loan Simulator can help compare existing repayment plan options before the new OBBA repayment plans are implemented July 1, 2026. ED also updated that since the May 5 reinstatement of student loan collection, it received $282 million in payments on defaulted student loans. Wage garnishment will begin later this summer. 

The U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Agriculture Respond to White House Executive Order to Bar “Unqualified Aliens” from Certain Federal Benefits 
Multiple agencies announced regulatory actions to bar “unqualified aliens” from receiving certain federal benefits that were previously permitted under interpretations of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), which was signed into law during the Clinton administration.  
 
In February, the White House Executive Order “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders” commenced a review of agency interpretations of PRWORA, stating “in the decades since the passage of the legislation, numerous administrations have acted to undermine the principles and limitations directed by the Congress through that law.” The Order commenced a process to identify sources of federal funding for “unqualified aliens” and recommended agency actions, which include:  

• The U.S. Department of Education announced it is reinterpreting a 1997 rule to establish that it now defines career and technical education, adult education and family literacy, and dual enrollment as “public benefits” and thus unavailable to “unqualified aliens.” Federal grantees may have received this memo with more details, including, “The Department may exercise its enforcement discretion to seek to ensure that this citizenship verification is in use across all postsecondary education and other similar benefit programs covered under PRWORA. In general, the Department does not have any plans to take enforcement actions against any grantee or subgrantee under PRWORA prior to August 9, 2025.”  
• The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) also announced it will reinterpret the 1997 rule to redefine Health Workforce Programs, Educational and Training Vouchers, and additional health and human services programs as “public benefits” closed to “unqualified aliens” under PRWORA. HHS posted its unofficial pre-publication notice of reinterpretation, which it plans to implement immediately; the rule will be subject to a 30-day public comment period once formally posted in the Federal Register.  
• The Department of Agriculture (USDA) posted its updated interpretation on July 10, significantly expanding the scope of programs considered “public benefits” to wide-ranging programs across the agency. These now include grants made by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture to develop, improve, and protect agricultural commodities and livestock. 

House Select Committee on China Probes Universities on Technology Transfer Concerns 
On July 9, the House Select Committee on China sent a letter to seven universities calling for an end to joint programs with the Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC), described as a “CCP-managed technology transfer effort that exploits U.S. institutions and directly supports China’s military and scientific growth.” The letters request that the universities supply documents regarding the contractual relationships between the institution and CSC, numbers of students participating in the program, to quantify how many worked on federally funded research, and to defend how the partnerships advance U.S. interests. 
 
The Big Picture: The letters follow a report by the Committee’s Majority Staff, titled “CCP on the Quad,” published last year that presents the results of an over a year-and half long investigation to examine the relationships between U.S. universities, federally funded researchers, and entities in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).