Washington Update

Action on NIH Grants 
APLU Urges Restoration of all NIH Grants 
Last week, APLU and partner associations sent a letter to NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, requesting reinstatement of all grants terminated by NIH under agency directives found unlawful by a United States District Court in American Public Health Association v. NIH. The letter notes the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit declined to issue a stay of the District Court for Massachusetts’ decision. As a result, NIH grants are being restored for members of plaintiff associations and within plaintiff states. The associations request NIH provide broader relief regardless of geographic area or institution. 

APLU Joins Amicus Brief to SCOTUS Opposing a Stay 
APLU also joined an association-led amicus brief to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) opposing the Trump administration’s request for a stay of the District Court for Massachusetts ruling in favor of plaintiffs in American Public Health Association, et. al. v. NIH. The amicus brief provides the research community’s perspective on the critical importance of NIH’s grantmaking and the consequences if the court were to allow the termination of grants on non-scientific considerations to move forward.  

In the brief, the associations argue “the Administration’s blanket cancellation of NIH grants flouts longstanding principles of science-based decision-making” and “the mass termination of NIH grants has destabilized the scientific research landscape, decimated reliance interests, and wasted government resources.” 

Fiscal Year 2026 Appropriations State of Play 
The Senate last week passed its first three Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) spending bills – Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, and Legislative Branch – ahead of the end of the fiscal year in late September. 

The Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) bill conversely did not make it onto the Senate Floor due to a continued dispute between CJS Ranking Member Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and the White House on funding for the relocation of the FBI headquarters. 

Last Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee advanced the FY26 Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education bills. Additional details on APLU priority accounts are provided below. APLU continues to update the association’s appropriations chart as FY26 bills are released. 

For comparison purposes, APLU provides FY2024 funding levels instead of FY2025 to contrast with the last year Congress comprehensively passed appropriations rather than a continuing resolution. 

Defense
The Senate Appropriations Committee voted to advance the FY26 Defense spending bill on a 26-3 vote. The bill provides $851.9 billion to the Department of Defense (DOD), a 2.6 percent increase above the president’s budget request. The bill text and summary of the legislation are now available.  

Of note, Section 8123 of the bill directs DOD to continue to apply the negotiated indirect cost rate for universities as were negotiated in FY24. An amendment adopted from Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) encourages DARPA to adopt advanced techniques for developing AI models. Funding levels for APLU DOD priority accounts are updated on the associations’ appropriations chart. 

Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education 
The Senate Appropriations Committee voted to advance the FY26 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education spending bill on a 26-3 vote. The bill text and summary of the legislation are now available.  

The bill provides $48.7 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a $400 million increase from FY25 enacted levels. Additionally, the bill would maintain funding for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) at the FY25 total of $1.5 billion. In contrast, the president’s FY26 budget request (PBR) proposed an $18 billion cut to NIH and over a $500 million cut to ARPA-H. The bill rejects the administration’s proposal to reorganize NIH and close multiple Institutes and Centers. Section 224 prohibits NIH from changing negotiated F&A rates, and Sec. 239 prohibits NIH from awarding proportionally more multi-year grants than FY24. Science magazine did a robust write up of the NIH portion of bill.    

The legislation provides flat funding for the following APLU priority education accounts: 

• Maximum Pell Grant (In contrast, the PBR would cut the maximum grant by $1,685) 
• Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant and Federal Work Study (PBR eliminates) 
• TRIO and GEAR UP programs (PBR eliminates) 
• Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (PBR eliminates) 
• Child Care Access Means Parents in School. (PBR eliminates) 

The bill also provides $80.7 million for Title VI (5.8 percent decrease from FY24), $40 million for Postsecondary Student Success Grants (11 percent decrease from FY24), and $768 million Institute of Education Sciences (3 percent decrease from FY24). 

Interior 
On July 18th, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to advance the FY26 Interior and Environment spending bill on a 26-2 vote. The bill text, and summary are now available.  

The bill funds APLU priority accounts at the following levels:  

• $742.5 million for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Science and Technology (1.8 percent decrease from the FY24) 
• $15.5 million for the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Water Resources Research Act (flat funding from the FY24) 
• $31.8 million for USGS Cooperative Research Units (12.8 percent increase from FY24) and $8 million the Forest Service’s Joint Fire Science Program (33 percent decrease from FY24) 
• Flat funding for the National Endowment for Humanities at $207 million 

CAP Act Introduced in House and Senate – Eliminates University Exemption to H-1B Cap 
The Colleges for the American People (CAP) Act was introduced in the House by Representatives Tom Tiffany (R-WI) and Andrew Clyde (R-GA) and in the Senate by Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR). The legislation would remove the exemption of institutions of higher education from the H-1B visa cap as employers. The removal of the exemption would subject colleges and universities to the statutory cap on the number of H-1Bs via the visa lottery in competition with private sector employers.  

Why it matters: Each year, the cap is quickly met when the lottery opens. In addition to subjecting institutions to the uncertainty of the lottery system, it would add substantial challenges given differences between the academic calendar and H-1B lottery schedule. APLU will be engaging in opposition to the legislation. 

Nicholas Kent Sworn in as U.S. Department of Education Under Secretary  
On August 4, Nicholas Kent was sworn in as the 15^th Under Secretary of Education. Under Secretary Kent will oversee all policies, programs, and activities related to postsecondary education, vocational and adult education, and federal student aid. His portfolio includes the implementation of President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. In his welcoming remarks, Under Secretary Kent stated, “Now is the time to disrupt the status quo—by embracing alternatives to the traditional college experience, cutting costs, reducing federal bureaucracy, and holding every institution accountable for results.” 

Federal Court Issues Preliminary Injunction in NEH Grant Cancellation Case 
On July 24, Judge Colleen McMahon of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, issued a preliminary injunction in Authors Guild v. National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), blocking the cancellation of $175 million across 1,400 NEH grants. The cancellations are primarily related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), gender ideology, and environmental justice. The plaintiffs argued the terminations were ideologically motivated and violated both the First Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act. 
 
The court halted the terminations and barred NEH from reallocating the affected grant funds, effectively preserving the grants’ status while litigation proceeds. However, Judge McMahon declined to order payment of the terminated funds, stating that monetary relief must be pursued through the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. The ruling applies to two classes: (1) individual NEH grantees and (2) subrecipients whose sponsors’ grants were also terminated in the April action.  

ED Call for Nominees on OBBB Implementation, APLU and Partners Request Restoration of Public Four-Year Negotiator Position 
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) released its pre-publication intent to establish negotiated rulemaking committees with a focus on OBBB implementation. 

Per the notice, there will be two committees, Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) Committee addressing loan issues, and Accountability in Higher Education and Access through Demand-driven Workforce Pell (AHEAD) Committee addressing institutional and program accountability, Pell Grants, and other issues. The notice provides additional details on areas of focus for the negotiated rulemaking committees as well as meeting dates.  

APLU will likely submit nominations to ED from the association’s membership to serve on the committees.

Unfortunately, in constructing the negotiated rulemaking committee, the Department of Education merged the roles historically designated separately for public four-year institution and community colleges, into just one position. APLU, joined by the American Association of Community Colleges, and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, sent a letter calling for the Department to restore the separate negotiator positions to ensure public colleges and universities are appropriately represented in the policymaking process. 

The U.S. Department of Education Provides Guidance on Using Funds to Integrate AI, Proposes New AI Grant Priority 
As a follow up to President Trump’s April executive order on using artificial intelligence (AI) in government, ED announced it sent a dear colleague letter to stakeholders with guidance on AI in education programs.  

The guidance suggests how existing and current ED grant funding may be used for “responsible integration” of AI, including in postsecondary education. ED also posted a set of draft priorities on AI, which may be used in future competitive grant competitions. Stakeholders have until August 20, 2025, to provide comment on the proposed priorities. 

White House Releases AI Action Plan 
On July 23, the White House released its AI Action Plan, which aims to pare back regulation, accelerate AI development, and keep the U.S. in the global lead. The plan is built around three pillars: accelerating AI innovation; building AI infrastructure; and leading in AI diplomacy and security. It calls for increased research investments in areas such as automated cloud-enabled labs and development and scaling of foundational and translational manufacturing technologies. The plan also seeks to address data, training and education, model evaluation, and researcher access to computing power through the National AI Research Resource (NAIRR).  

The White House additionally released a series of executive orders to accompany the release of the plan that cover promoting the export of American AI, accelerating federal permitting of data center infrastructure, and preventing woke AI. 

APLU Offers to Serve as Resource to U.S. Department of Agriculture on Research Security 
On July 8, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued “America First Memorandum for USDA Arrangements and Research Security.” The memorandum directs a “Department wide review of existing arrangements with foreign entities, establishes a justification process for establishing new arrangements, and enhances research security. After completing this review, the Department will institute, as appropriate, new policies to ensure USDA funding and resources support American agriculture.” 

APLU responded with a letter to USDA Secretary Rollins to request that the agency issue guidance and clarity on its research security policy. In the letter, the association offered to serve as a resource to USDA in that process, noting APLU has previously advised other agencies when implementing their own research security policies. Among other recommendations, APLU suggests research security policies and definitions align across agencies so as not to cause confusion, misapplication, or undue burden.