Washington Update 

Fiscal Year 2026 Appropriations Update 
Last Friday, the House passed a continuing resolution (CR) package to fund the government through November 21, largely along party lines with two Republicans voting no and one Democrat voting yes. The package failed later that afternoon in the Senate, with one Republican voting no and one Democrat voting yes. Following the votes, both chambers went on recess, with the House not scheduled to return earlier than October 1. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is expected to force another vote on the House-passed bill upon the Senate’s return September 29. 

The Big Picture: Congress and the White House have until September 30 to strike a deal on a continuing resolution or there will be a government shutdown on October 1.   

Prior to the Senate vote on the House package, the chamber rejected a proposal by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) that would extend funding through October 31 and include several health care-related provisions. President Trump recently canceled a meeting with Minority Leader Schumer and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) to discuss the path forward to keep the federal government funded, saying “after reviewing the details of the unserious and ridiculous demands being made by the Minority Radical Left Democrats in return for their votes to keep our thriving Country open, I have decided that no meeting with their Congressional Leaders could possibly be productive.”  

Potential Impacts of a Shutdown  
The exact impact of a shutdown depends on its length, with longer-term lapses having more severe consequences. A government shutdown of any length, however, has a real impact on public research institutions and may impact research operations.  

• The biggest challenge for universities (and every sector that interfaces with the federal government) is that the vast majority of federal employees will not be permitted to work at all. That includes not being able to check email or respond to messages. 

President Trump Signs Proclamation on H-1Bs  
President Trump signed a proclamation that adds a new fee on H-1B visas to $100,000 last Friday. The proclamation, which went into effect Sunday at midnight, was accompanied by a factsheet. According to a USCIS memo on the proclamation, the increased fees only apply to H-1B visas petitions that have not yet been filed. Beneficiaries of petitions filed before the effective date, beneficiaries of approved petitions, and those will valid H-1B visas are exempt from the fee, as well as for those workers whose presence is in the “national interest.” Whether the fee applies to cap-exempt employers like public research universities remains unclear.  

APLU understands the confusion surrounding the impact of this proclamation on member institutions. The association is in contact with White House and State Department officials to advocate for exclusion of impact to cap-exempt employers.  

U.S. Department of Education to Reprogram, Universally Cut Higher Education Programs 
On September 15, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced a one-time investment of $495 million to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs). In the announcement, ED notes “these investments will be repurposed from programs that the Department determined are not in the best interest of students and families” without identifying which cancelled discretionary grants are being reprogrammed. APLU understands that cancelled Titles III and V funds, potentially along with unspent funds from programs such as Title II Teacher Quality Partnerships and Title VI International Education programs, are being reprogrammed towards HBCUs and TCCUs. 

APLU also understands that ED is cancelling funds previously allocated by Congress. The cancelled funds include TRIO, GEAR UP, Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS), among others. Institutions previously awarded these funds have reported receiving no-cost extensions or grant cancellation notices over the last few weeks, while others have received funds on a delayed timeline. 

Go Deeper: On September 19, a bicameral group of senior Democratic appropriations leaders sent a letter to U.S. Department of Education (ED) Secretary Linda McMahon in strong opposition to ED’s plans to unilaterally slash or eliminate several programs without any oversight or input from Congress.  
 
A press release accompanying the letter describes how the programs were each authorized in FY24 appropriations laws; however, the FY25 continuing resolution did not provide specific line item funding for these programs, “granting the Trump significantly more discretion over how to allocate federal funds.”  

Administration Issues FY27 R&D Budget Priorities
This week, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russel Vought and White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios sent a memo to federal agencies outlining the administration’s FY27 research and development budget priorities. The memo states, “Following years of unfocused Federal investments weighed down by woke ideology and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, we are realigning the Federal R&D portfolio to serve its core purposes: driving economic growth and high-wage employment for all Americans, promoting high quality of life, and ensuring U.S. leadership in critical sectors to our national security,”

The memo outlines five R&D budgetary priorities:

1. Ensure Unrivaled American Leadership in Critical and Emerging Technologies
2. Unleash American Energy Dominance and Explore New Frontiers
3. Strengthen American Security
4. Strengthen and Safeguard American Health and Biotechnology
5. Assure America’s Continued Space Dominance

As well as five high-priority cross cutting actions;

1. Implement and Support Gold Standard Science
2. Build the S&T Workforce of the Future
3. Expand and Make Accessible World-Class Research Infrastructure
4. Revitalize and Strengthen America’s S&T Ecosystem
5. Focus on High-Value Research Efforts

Agencies will use this memo to guide development of their FY27 budget priorities, which will ultimately inform the President’s FY27 Budget Request.

Department of Education RFI on Institute of Education Sciences
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) released a Request for Information (RFI) on a redesign of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) with a comment deadline of October 15. 

Per the RFI, “the goal is to ensure that IES’ high-quality work is translated in ways that inform teacher and practitioner practice and has a meaningful, positive impact on students’ academic achievement and other outcomes. Through this RFI, we seek public input on how IES can modernize its programs, processes, and priorities to better serve the needs of the field and American students.” 

The RFI further specifies areas of interest and purposes. APLU last month participated in a related meeting with ED and plans to respond with additional feedback. To help inform APLU’s response, please coordinate with your institution’s government relations officers and share feedback by EOD October 8th with Bao Le, APLU’s Assistant Vice President, Data Policy and Analysis and MacGregor Obergfell, Director, Governmental Affairs.  

APLU Joins Amicus Brief on GI Bill Benefits 
APLU Joined 17 higher education associations in an amicus brief in Commonwealth of VA et al. v. Secretary of Veterans Affairs in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.  
 
The U.S. Supreme Court recently held that those who qualify for benefits under the Montgomery GI Bill and the Post-9/11 GI Bill are entitled to combine them for a total of 48 maximum months of benefits. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has contravened that holding, promulgating rules that limit otherwise qualified service members to only 36 months of benefits. 

While the brief does not speak to the merits of the case, it explains the immediate, direct, and irreparable harm that will be felt by educational institutions across the country if the VA’s erroneous policies are not stayed. Additionally, it provides background as to the harm that petitioners describe they will suffer. 

APLU Submits Joint Response to NIH Open Access RFI 
On September 15, APLU, AAU, AAMC, and COGR submitted a joint response to the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) request for information (RFI) on Maximizing Research Funds by Limiting Allowable Publishing Costs. 
 
The associations fully support NIH’s objective to enhance the utility and accessibility of federally funded research. However, the response raises concerns about NIH’s proposed five policy options to address rising publication costs by limiting the allowability of these costs in NIH awards. None of the options will fully support the actual costs of publishing results of federally funded research. Instead, the associations urge NIH to avoid arbitrary pre-publication caps, explore alternative mechanisms to address rising publication costs, provide a one-year implementation timeline for any new policy, and monitor impacts of a new policy on investigators, institutions, and the availability of federally funded research. 

CNSF Urges Appropriators to Fund NSF at Highest Level Possible 
On September 9, the Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF), of which APLU is a member, sent a letter urging appropriations leadership in both chambers to fund NSF at the highest level possible in FY26. The letter expresses a preference for the Senate bill, which offers a higher level of funding. While acknowledging the difficult fiscal climate, CNSF details how cuts to NSF would be devastating to the U.S. innovation system, competitiveness, and national security. The letter also highlights CNSF members’ concerns about cuts to the Directorate of STEM Education, urging a specific level of funding for the Directorate to protect it from the Administration’s proposed cuts. 

The Bottom Line: As Congress considers a short-term continuing resolution, CNSF also urges appropriators to protect NSF from irreversible cuts until Congress can complete FY26 appropriations, describing how drastic changes in a CR can lead to facilities closures, grant disruptions, and workforce impacts that cannot be easily undone. 

APLU Joins Community Letter Urging NASA Science Support in Continuing Resolution 
On September 18, APLU joined the Planetary Society and 12 other organizations in sending letters to congressional appropriators in the House and Senate urging them “to include an anomaly within any future Continuing Resolution to ensure the continued operations of NASA projects and missions, pending completion of congressional appropriations.” Despite that, both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees previously rejected proposed cuts to NASA science, the letter notes that the administration appears to be planning to functionally impose a 47% cut to NASA Science through restricted apportionments. 

A group of eight bipartisan lawmakers in the House also sent a similar letter to House Appropriators urging against proposed cuts to critical space programs, arguing they will weaken national security and cede U.S. leadership in space to China.  

APLU Endorses Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Extension 
A one-year extension of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology  

Transfer (STTR) programs, which are set to expire on September 30th, was passed by the House on a voice vote on Monday, September 15.  APLU joined a coalition letter in support of Small Business Committee Chairman Roger Williams’ (R-TX) bill, H.R. 5100.  APLU encourages the Senate to take up the bill to ensure these critical programs supporting small businesses, including some university-based tech start-ups, can continue to operate while Congress potentially works on a full re-authorization.