Washington Update

Appropriations Update 
Ahead of the end of the fiscal year on September 30, the House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution that extends government funding through December 4. The House voted 220-205, with six Democrats joining Republicans to advance the bill. The measure now heads to the Senate where it faces a 60-vote threshold for passage. Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told POLITICO he intends to bring it to the floor before Congress breaks for August recess; however, it remains unclear if Democrats will support the measure. 

If passed, the continuing resolution would allow Congress to finalize FY27 appropriations after the midterm election. In the meantime, the House has continued advancing individual appropriations bills to establish its negotiating position for year-end funding talks. Last week, the House passed the FY27 National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs appropriations bill on a party line 217-209 vote. Funding for APLU’s three priority accounts within the bill (Higher Education Programs formerly at USAID, Feed the Future Innovation Labs, and the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program) are held flat from FY26 levels.  

Alongside the continuing resolution, House leadership began a third budget reconciliation process as vehicle for additional defense spending and to advance one of President Trump’s priorities: the SAVE America Act, a voter ID bill. Per Politico, some conservatives are considering the reconciliation bill as another means to fund the government if Senate Republicans and Democrats are unable to strike a deal. 
 
APLU maintains an appropriations chart as a resource for members that remains up to date. 

House Committee on Education and Workforce Committee Passes 10 Bills to Codify Shift of U.S. Department of Education Programs to Other Agencies 
On July 15, the House Committee on Education and Workforce passed 10 bills to codify the transfer of certain U.S. Department of Education (ED) programs to other federal agencies. Press releases from the Committee’s majority and minority are available.  
 
The Bottom Line: The legislation would effectively codify many of the current ED interagency agreements in statute. Notably, in response to concern raised some Republicans, the House chose not to codify the agreements between ED and the U.S. Department of Justice on civil rights enforcement and the transfer of special education programs to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

APLU does not anticipate that the bills will pass the Senate.  

U.S. Department of Education Updates Electronic Announcement on Section 117 
On July 15, the U.S. Department of Education released an update to its Electronic Announcement on Section 117, foreign gift and contract reporting, that was issued earlier this month. In the original announcement, ED announced it would begin releasing the names of all foreign funding sources from prior reporting cycles on July 15. Names of individual contributors have historically been redacted, except for those on covered lists. While dollar amounts have been attributed to individual universities, the identities of individual contributors have not been. 

ED has agreed to both a two-week delay on its planned publication and that it will no longer identify all contributors. Instead, it will only name the 92 foreign entities that appear on a graph on ED’s foreign funding website entitled “Funding of Universities from Foreign Entities on US Government Lists ” and identify contributors on the graph of 65 universities entitled, “Universities by Total Value of Transactions with Counterparties of Concern.” 

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Posts Resources on Duration of Status Final Rule 
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released resources on its duration of status final rule, which was published on July 17.  

• DHS resource page with background on the rule, a summary of major changes and next steps on transitioning from duration of status to a fixed period of admission  
• DHS frequently asked questions (FAQ) for F students, which addresses general questions, the admit until date; extensions of stay, maintaining status, the departure period, and recommendations for school officials 
• DHS Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) webinar on August 31, 2026 , from 2-3 PM EDT 

The rule, titled Establishing a Fixed Time Period of Admission and an Extension of Stay Procedure for Nonimmigrant Academic Students, Exchange Visitors, and Representatives of Foreign Information Media, has a 60-day implementation period and will take effect on September 15. The final rule replaces “duration of status” admission for J-1 and F-1 visa holders with a four-year maximum fixed period of admission, imposes certain restrictions on F-1 visa holders’ ability to change programs, among other provisions. 

APLU engaged repeatedly with the administration to raise concerns with the regulation, which will add unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles to international students and reduce U.S. competitiveness in the global competition to attract international talent.