Washington Update

President Trump Signs FY26 National Defense Authorization Act  
On December 18, President Trump signed the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law after it passed the House and Senate on a bipartisan basis. APLU and member institutions were successful in advocating to keep concerning research security provisions – outlined in the joint APLU-AAU conference priorities letter, including the SAFE Research Act – out of the final bill. Importantly, the bill includes language prohibiting the U.S. Department of Defense from unilaterally modifying indirect cost rates without consultative engagement with the extramural research community.  

APLU developed an analysis of the NDAA, which charts final outcomes of provisions APLU supported, provisions of concern, and others of interest. 

U.S. Department of Education Negotiated Rulemaking Updates  
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) continues progress with negotiated rulemaking to implement the higher education provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The Department divided rulemaking into two groups. In November, the Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) committee reached consensus on a variety of student loan provisions, including which programs are eligible for higher annual and aggregate loan limits. This week, the Accountability in Higher Education and Access through Demand-driven Workforce Pell (AHEAD) panel convenes to consider proposed regulations on the bill’s accountability provisions. The AHEAD committee previously met in December to consider regulations on the Pell grant provisions of the law.  

Next, ED must publish a proposed rule from each committee on its path towards implementing the law. ED recently transmitted its proposed rule from the RISE committee to the White House for final approval, and a proposed rule should be available for public comment soon. Following the conclusion of the AHEAD committee discussions, ED will post a proposed rule for public comment. APLU anticipates submitting comments on both proposed rules.  

FY26 Appropriations Update: Congress Unveils New Package of Funding Bills  
Ahead of a January 30 federal funding cliff, the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations this week released the text for conference legislation, initially a package of three FY26 spending bills: 1) Commerce Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Act; 2) Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act; 3) Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.  

Why it matters: The bills fund APLU priority accounts across several scientific research agencies, including the National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Department of Commerce, Department of Energy (DOE), and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). 

APLU produced a summary  of funding levels for priority accounts and relevant policy  
implications. Of note, the Commerce, Justice, Science and Energy and Water Development bills contain policy language that requires the research agencies to maintain the current Facilities & Administrative (F&A) cost system and prohibits funds from being used to change or modify indirect cost rates. The goal of those in Congress championing that language is to allow more time to operationalize the FAIR model in FY2027. 
 
Go deeper: The bill text and Joint Explanatory Statements of the three-bill package are available, along with summaries and community project funding tables. 

In addition to programmatic priorities, each bill also provides community project funding tables (i.e. earmarks requested by members of Congress for district-based projects). Several key accounts would receive reductions, though far smaller than initially proposed in the President’s Budget Request and the original House measures. If the House can pass the measure(s), the Senate is expected to follow.  
 
House GOP leaders aim to pass the three appropriations measures on the Floor this week.  

APLU Endorses Professional Student Degree Act 
APLU recently endorsed the Professional Student Degree Act that Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) introduced on December 15. The bill would expand the definition of professional degree programs; thus, making students in these programs eligible for higher annual and aggregate loan limits. The bill would consider 12 additional programs beyond what was included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act as professional degrees while permitting the Secretary to add new programs. APLU endorsed the legislation as a solution to ED’s proposed narrow definition of professional programs. 

National Science Board Announces Proposed Updates to NSF Merit Review in New Report 
On December 17, the National Science Board published a new report with proposed updates to the National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s) Merit Review policy. The report follows a recommendation in the Board’s 2020 report, Vision 2030, which called for revisiting the Merit Review framework to ensure it is aligned with national needs. The Board recommends that NSF:  

• Boost participation and invite expert reviews from a wider range of industry, research institutions, venture capital, and regions of the country. 

• Emphasize that NSF-funded research must deliver societal benefits, including research that advances the nation’s economic competitiveness and national security. 

• Build NSF’s award portfolio at the agency level for greater nimbleness and strategic alignment with national priorities, both current and emerging. 

NSF Announces Organizational Realignment 
On Monday, December 15, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced an organizational realignment and shared a new organizational chart. Per NSF’s press release “These changes reduce the number of layers in the organization, which allows the agency to more effectively interface with our staff, while achieving faster response times for review and making awards.” Science Magazine also published an analysis of the reorganization.  

President Trump Expands Travel Ban 
On December 16, President Trump signed a proclamation expanding the travel ban laid out in a previous presidential proclamation, fully restricting entry into the U.S. for citizens from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria and those with Palestinian Authority-issued travel documents.  

What’s new: The order extends full entry restrictions on nationals from Laos and Sierra Leone, who were previously subjected to partial restrictions. It also subjects individuals from 15 additional countries to partial entry restrictions. For many countries on the list, high F-1 visa overstay rates were cited as the rationale for the ban. 

Actions Impacting H-1B Visa Policy 
DHS Publishes H-1B Lottery Final Rule  
On December 29, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a final rule on the weighted selection process for H-1B petitions, effective February 27. The final rule is nearly identical to the proposed rule and implements a weighted lottery system for H-1B visas that prioritizes beneficiaries with higher paying offers. While the rule does not apply to cap-exempt entities like public research universities as employers, it will have a substantial impact on international graduates of APLU member institutions. 
 
APLU submitted comments on the proposed rule outlining concerns on impacts to recent graduates and public research universities.  
 
Trump Administration Prevails in Litigation Challenging H-1B Fee; Motion of Appeal Filed 
Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the federal government’s motion for summary judgment in the litigation by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Association of American Universities challenging the $100,000 H-1B visa fee proclamation. In dismissing the suit, the court held the fee falls within the president’s authority to determine who may enter the country. The plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. 
 
The district court decision was the first time the $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas was tested. Two other suits challenging the fee continue, one involving a group of 20 blue state attorneys general and one involving a nurses’ association. 

U.S. Department of Justice Opinion on MSI Programs 
In December, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Legal Counsel published an opinion finding unconstitutional 12 U.S. Department of Education programs that include considerations of race, including many of which are Minority Serving Institution programs. The opinion follows an ED request for DOJ to evaluate the legality of these programs in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard that prohibited the use of race in admissions decisions. In a press release, ED notes it is reviewing the impact of the opinion on affected programs and will provide additional information in the future.  
 
The impacted programs are: 

• Developing Hispanic Serving Institutions  
• Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans  
• Hispanic Serving Institutions–Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics and Articulation Programs  
• Native American Serving Non-Tribal Institutions  
• Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions  
• Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program  
• Predominantly Black Institutions formula grants  
• Predominantly Black Institutions competitive grants  
• The Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program  
• Student Support Services  
• Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions  
• Native Hawaiian Career and Technical Education Program 

APLU Response to OSTP RFI on Accelerating the American Science Enterprise 

APLU submitted a response last month to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s (OSTP) request for information on Accelerating the American Scientific Enterprise. The association’s response focused on the following overall goals: 

1. Reducing administrative burden facing inventors and researchers  
2. Funding large-scale, multidisciplinary fundamental and applied research along with infrastructure to support national and regional competitiveness  
3. Strengthening pathways from research to commercialization and public impact 
4. Rightsizing research security requirements  
5. Building talent across the nation for a robust STEM workforce  

USDA Secretary Announces Ag R&D Priorities 
On December 30, USDA released a Secretary’s Memorandum outlining the agency’s new research and development priorities. The five new priorities include Increasing Profitability of Farmers and Ranchers; Expanding Markets and Creating New Uses of U.S. Agricultural Products; Protecting the Integrity of American Agriculture from Invasive Species; Promoting Soil Health to Regenerate Long-Term Productivity of Land; and Improving Human Health through Precision Nutrition and Food Quality.  

APLU is analyzing the implications of the new policy and will share additional details with its members.  

NEH Program Announcement Requires Matching Funds and Cap on F&A 
On December 12, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced a new program with an accompanying notice of funding opportunities inviting applications to build endowments for research and the teaching of western civilization, American history, government, and civics.  
 
Why it matters: The funding opportunity is notable because it departs from NEH’s typical practice of offering conventional grant awards and instead relies on a combination of non-federal fundraising and NEH federal matching funds. The program announcement also contains a sentence that appears to limit indirect cost recovery using a novel mechanism with a dollar amount cap instead of a percentage:  
 
“You may request up to an additional $100,000 in outright funds for fundraising support costs (salaries, consultants, contracts, or subawards for fundraising personnel only) and related indirect costs during the period of performance.”  
 
APLU is monitoring potential concerns with the financing approach and indirect cost recovery.