GW Weekly Federal Update (December 4)

Update on National Guard in D.C.

• In the October 30 edition of the GW Weekly Federal Update, we reported that D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleging among other things that the National Guard’s continued deployment in D.C.—authorized under a presidential emergency declaration issued in August—violates the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits military involvement in civilian law enforcement. On November 20, the U.S. District Court ruled in favor of D.C., finding that the deployment of more than 2,000 National Guard troops violates federal law. The Court found that the Trump administration overstepped its authority by inserting the Guard into domestic law enforcement roles, and that the deployment infringes on the city’s self-governance under the Home Rule Act. The court granted a preliminary injunction, but paused its effect until December 11 to allow the Trump administration time to appeal. This 21-day stay order means troops remain deployed in the city for now.
  
  On November 26, the Trump Administration requested that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit issue a stay of the preliminary injunction. On December 3, the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc., filed an amicus brief opposing the request for a stay, while the attorneys general of 23 states filed an amicus brief supporting the Trump Administration’s request for a stay.
  
  In response to the shooting of two members of the National Guard near the White House, President Trump ordered 500 additional Guard troops to D.C., and D.C. Metropolitan Police Department officers are conducting joint patrols with Guardsmen.
  
  The university continues to monitor Guard and law enforcement presence in the District. While we do not anticipate direct impacts to our operations at this time, you may notice increased presence in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood, as well as across the District. We will continue to share information via email and the Federal Updates website, which has a list of frequently asked questions as well as safety, wellbeing, and informational resources.

Recent Federal Actions

Immigration

• On December 2, the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting, among other things, the Department of Homeland Security from making warrantless civil immigration arrests in D.C. without “making individualized probable cause determinations as to each arrestee’s risk of escape” before a warrant is obtained. The court rejected DHS’s apparent use of a lower threshold to make a warrantless civil arrest—that DHS have “reasonable suspicion of illegal alienage.” The court ordered that immigration authorities document every warrantless immigration arrest in D.C. with “specific, particularized facts” establishing probable cause “that the person is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained.
  
  FAQs on interacting with law enforcement or federal personnel and identification requirements are on the Federal Updates website and individualized resources and support are available to those who may need it.

Department of Education

• As reported in the November 20 GW Weekly Federal Update, the Trump administration announced a major restructuring of the Department of Education (ED), which includes shifting institutional grant programs, including TRIO, along with several other education functions, to the Departments of Interior, Health and Human Services, and State. Last week, Senator Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to the Education Department’s Office of Inspector General to request an investigation into the administration’s broader dismantling efforts, raising concerns that transferring statutory duties to other agencies and implementing recent layoffs could weaken oversight, reduce protections against discrimination, and negatively affect student loan borrowers. Warren also urged the OIG to examine how officials decided which employees to lay off. On November 25, a number of organizations, unions and school districts filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts arguing that the Trump Administration's new efforts to eliminate broad aspects of ED’s responsibilities were unlawful.

Congress

• Lawmakers have returned to Capitol Hill for the final legislative session of the year with significant FY26 work still unfinished. Congress must pass the remaining nine appropriations bills or approve another continuing resolution by January 30, 2026, to avoid a second government shutdown. Senate Republicans continue to pursue a minibus combining several major bills, though negotiations stalled late last week. House leaders are not expected to bring spending legislation to the floor this month and are waiting to see how the Senate proceeds, while House appropriators are focusing on smaller bills. 
  
  Separately, research associations continue working with key members of Congress to include provisions in FY26 appropriations bills that would prevent unilateral administrative changes to existing indirect cost rates. Stable and equitable indirect cost rates help GW cover the real costs of conducting research and sustain the infrastructure that supports our scholars. Additionally, the Joint Associations Group on Indirect Costs continues its work on the Financial Accountability in Research (FAIR) model. As a result of these efforts, two additional Senate bills—the Energy-Water bill and the Financial Services and General Government bill—now include language maintaining FY24 indirect cost practices and encouraging ongoing engagement between federal agencies and the research community. 
  
  In parallel legislative activity, Congress is expected to release the text of the FY26 National Defense Authorization Act, which was reported in the October 23 Federal Update, in the upcoming weeks.
   
• The House Rules Committee reviewed several bills this week, including the Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements (SCORE) Act, a proposal that could significantly shape the future of college athletics. The SCORE Act, supported by the NCAA, major athletic conferences, and most House Republicans, would grant antitrust exemptions to collegiate sports governing bodies, preempt state-level name, image, and likeness (NIL) laws, and establish that student athletes are not employees. 
  
  At the same time, House Democrats introduced an alternative NIL bill led by Representative Lori Trahan, which would codify athletes’ NIL rights and is backed by major professional player unions. The committee will also consider three education-related bills focused on foreign influence in K-12 schools, including measures to: prohibit financial relationships with the Chinese government, restrict funding for schools partnering with foreign-funded cultural programs, and require greater transparency in foreign-funded curriculum materials and contractual agreements.

Updates Related to Other Universities

• Northwestern: On November 28, Northwestern announced that it had entered into an agreement with the Trump Administration resolving a number of government investigations against Northwestern and restoring approximately $800 million in federal funds that had been suspended by the Administration. Under the terms of the Agreement, Northwestern is obligated to, among other things, pay the government $75 million; engage a third party to conduct a campus climate survey relating to antisemitism; no longer consider “personal statements, diversity narratives or any applicant reference to racial identity” in hiring practices or student admissions; include the DOJ’s July 29, 2025, memorandum “Guidance for Recipients of Federal Funding Regarding Unlawful Discrimination” as a “training resource to faculty and staff”; and ensure compliance with various federal laws and with the agreement, including a quarterly certification of compliance by the university president and chair of the Board of Trustees. The agreement also affirms the importance of academic freedom: “No provision of this Agreement, individually or taken together, shall be construed as giving the United States authority to dictate faculty hiring, University hiring, admissions decisions, or the content of academic speech and research.” By reaching the agreement, Northwestern’s interim president stated that it “preserved Northwestern’s unique environment for research that advances human understanding, improves lives in myriad ways and makes us one of the world’s great universities.”   
   
• University of California, Berkeley: In the November 14 edition of the GW Weekly Federal Update, we reported that on November 11, the DOJ announced that it was initiating an investigation into a protest of a Turning Point USA event that occurred on Berkeley’s campus, alleging that the protests were violent and had been organized by Antifa. On November 23, ED announced that it had opened an investigation into whether Berkeley violated the Clery Act by not maintaining campus safety and security.
   
• University of Pennsylvania: On November 18, the EEOC filed an action in U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania asking the court to issue an order enforcing the EEOC’s administrative subpoena seeking a broad range of information relating to the EEOC’s investigation of Penn regarding alleged religious, national origin, and race-based harassment of Penn employees. Penn has refused to provide the EEOC with the names and contact information of Jewish faculty and staff, student employees, and those employees who are members of on-campus Jewish groups. Penn stated that doing so would violate employee privacy. A number of individuals and groups affiliated with Penn have voiced support for Penn’s position.
   
• University of Alabama: On December 1, the University of Alabama suspended publication of two student-run magazines that were funded by the university, one focused on women and the other on Black students, concluding that the magazines were “unlawful proxies” for discrimination, in violation of guidelines issued in a July 29, 2025, memorandum from Attorney General Pam Bondi (commonly referred to as the “Bondi memo”). Under the Bondi memo, criteria that appear facially neutral become “legally problematic" when, for example, such criteria “function as substitutes for explicit consideration of race, sex, or other protected characteristics.” According to media reports, the editors of the magazines were informed that the university was ceasing publication because the magazines were “identity based,” despite the fact that anyone was allowed to write for the magazines.

Research

• The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has released a broad request for information seeking public input on federal policy updates to strengthen the U.S. science and technology ecosystem and accelerate the pace of discovery. The request invites feedback from academia, industry, government, and other stakeholders on priorities for improving research funding mechanisms, fostering public-private collaboration, supporting technology translation, growing regional innovation ecosystems, enabling high-risk research, leveraging advances in AI, and reducing policy barriers to scientific progress. OSTP will use the responses to inform future Executive Branch initiatives aimed at maintaining U.S. scientific and technological leadership. Comments are due by December 26, and must be submitted electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal.

Resources and Reminders

About this Newsletter

GW publishes this weekly Federal Update to inform students, faculty and staff about how developments in the federal government affect higher education generally and the University. This newsletter includes timely information, answers to questions from GW community members, and resources for support.