GW Weekly Federal Update (January 15)

GW Updates

Department of Justice Inquiry Update

• Last week, the university received correspondence from the U.S. Department of Justice notifying the university that it has opened a Title VI compliance review related to DEI in student admissions at GW and related matters. The university plans to cooperate with the review and demonstrate that its admissions practices are compliant with Title VI. GW is one of more than 50 universities that is the subject of a DOJ review of the use of DEI in admissions.
  
  Background: President Ellen M. Granberg shared earlier this month that on Jan. 6, GW and U.S. Department of Justice officials met, affording GW an opportunity to present the full array of measures the university has undertaken to prevent antisemitism. Prior to the meeting, we notified members of the Board of Trustees, as well as the leaders of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee, the Student Government Association, and the Staff Council, that it was occurring. We will provide updates to the community as we are able to do so; however, as we have said in the past, sometimes there are legal or business reasons why certain information may not be shared. We will, however, share what we can, as soon as we can.

FAQs: Federal Personnel Access to Campus Spaces

We recognize there are continued questions about federal personnel access to campus spaces, and we understand the concerns that our students, faculty, and staff may have. These FAQs aim to address common questions and will continue to evolve in real-time based on changing circumstances.

As always, if there are questions or concerns not addressed here, please submit them to the federal [dot] updategwu [dot] edu (Federal Update team).

• When and under what conditions can ICE or the National Guard legally enter GW spaces? Answer
• If a campus space is open to the public (e.g., USC first floor), does that give law enforcement agencies, including ICE, Customs and Border Protection and/or other law enforcement agencies engaged in immigration enforcement, automatic access? Answer
• Would GW inform students if law enforcement forces were present? How are more vulnerable students protected by GW? Answer
• If MPD continues to coordinate with federal law enforcement, can MPD officers come into the residence halls or my room? Answer
• What should I do if I am approached by law enforcement officers, including but not limited to ICE agents or the National Guard? Answer
• Do I need to show my identification if stopped by law enforcement officers, including ICE agents? Answer
• If I am a U.S. citizen traveling down the street, do I have to show identification when requested by law enforcement? Answer
• What kind of identification can I use to prove my citizenship? Answer
• As an international GW community member, what should I know about interacting with federal personnel and identification requirements? Answer
• What does GW do in the case of an unannounced visit by government agents such as ICE? Answer
• What support does GW provide to members of the university community detained by ICE? Answer
• What resources are available to help understand my rights as an international community member? Answer

Russian Government Action Impacting GW

• As has been reported in the media, the university became aware of GW’s inclusion in Russia’s designation of several hundred universities, non-profits, news organizations and think tanks as “undesirable organizations.” The university has received no direct notification of this action by Russian officials. Russian news media reports that under Russian law, individuals found to be affiliated with an “undesirable” organization face up to four years in prison, while those deemed to organize its activities risk up to six years.
  
  The university is conducting a careful review of the situation and its impact on our community. We will also be assessing any potential implications to academics, research, and programs and provide updated information as necessary. For now, we urge individuals to heed the U.S. State Department warning not to travel to Russia for any reason. Russian nationals at GW are encouraged to contact the International Services Office and/or their personal immigration counsel; faculty and staff conducting research in Russia are encouraged to contact the Office of the Vice Provost for Research.
  
  The university will provide additional updates as new information becomes available.

Diplomacy Lab Update

• During the winter break, the university received notification from the State Department that its membership in the Diplomacy Lab—a partnership with the State Department based in the Elliott School of International Affairs that includes GW among its 38 university partners—may be cancelled based on its review of publicly available records that reference diversity in GW’s hiring practices. The university was invited to provide evidence of its merit-based hiring practices and it will do so.

Recent Federal Actions

Visas and International Community

• On January 14, the State Department announced that it will be suspending immigrant visa processing for 75 countries, including Brazil, Egypt, Nigeria, Thailand, and Yemen, whose foreign nationals, according to the State Department, “take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates.” State explained that the “freeze will remain active until the U.S. can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people.”  According to news reports, while the freeze, which is scheduled to take effect on January 21, does not affect tourist/visitor or non-immigrant student and scholar visas, State’s action “will ban nearly half of all legal immigrants to the United States.” We will provide more information when it is available.
   
• In the September 26, 2025, edition of the GW Weekly Federal Update, we reported that President Trump issued a Presidential Proclamation announcing restrictions on the entry of new H-1B workers into the U.S., unless their petitions are accompanied by a $100,000 supplemental payment to the U.S. government. On December 12, 2025, the attorneys general of 20 states filed a lawsuit in Massachusetts federal court challenging the $100,000 H-1B fee, alleging among other things that the proclamation exceeded the authority Congress gave the President in the Immigration and Nationality Act. This is one of at least three lawsuits challenging the proclamation. In one, brought by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, on December 23, 2025, the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia upheld the legality of the fee, concluding that it was within the broad power Congress delegated to the executive branch and the president to restrict entry of noncitizens into the United States.
   
• In the June 5, 2025, edition of the GW Weekly Federal Update, we reported that on June 4, 2025, the U.S. Government announced new travel restrictions that will affect the ability of citizens of certain countries to enter the U.S. On December 15, 2025, President Trump issued a Proclamation entitled “Restricting and Limiting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the Security of the United States,” effective January 1, 2026, that continues and expands restrictions on entry of certain foreign nationals in several countries identified by the Administration as “high risk.” The Proclamation maintains full entry restrictions for the twelve countries identified in the June 4 Proclamation and now extends those restrictions to five additional countries: Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria. The Proclamation also adds full restrictions and entry limitations on individuals holding Palestinian Authority-issued travel documents.
   
• We have previously reported on the Trump Administration’s efforts to review current student visa holders as part of its crackdown on immigration and alleged antisemitism and anti-American activities. According to recent news reports, the Department of State has revoked 8,000 student visas since the start of President Trump’s second term, the majority of which were due to “criminal encounters with law enforcement.”
   
• In December 2025, the EEOC issued guidance emphasizing that Title VII protects employees or applicants from discrimination based on his or her national origin, including Americans, i.e., those whose place of origin is the United States. The guidance lists as an example of such discrimination job ads that say the employer prefers or requires applicants from a particular country or with a particular visa status (for example, “H-1B preferred” or “H-1B only”).

Department of Education

• A U.S. Department of Education advisory committee has agreed to move forward with proposed regulations, developed as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, that would establish a single earnings-based accountability test for all postsecondary programs. Under the framework, which is expected to take effect in July pending public comment and final approval, programs would need to show that graduates earn more than working adults with a high school diploma. Repeated failures could result in the loss of federal student loans and, in some cases, Pell Grant eligibility. Committee members reached consensus after the department added stronger penalties for failing programs. The department estimates that about 6 percent of programs would fail the test, affecting roughly 650,000 students.
   
• On December 13, 2025, two students were killed and nine were injured in a mass shooting at Brown University. On December 22, 2025, the Department of Education announced that it was conducting a program review of Brown’s compliance with the Clery Act, which requires institutions of higher education to meet certain campus safety and security-related requirements as a condition of receiving federal student aid. According to the ED press release, “in the hours after the shooting, public reporting appeared to show that Brown’s campus surveillance and security system may not have been up to appropriate standards, allowing the suspect to flee while the university seemed unable to provide helpful information about the profile of the alleged assassin. Additionally, many Brown students and staff reported that the university’s emergency notifications about the active shooter were delayed, raising significant concerns about their safety alert system. If true, these shortcomings constitute serious breaches of Brown’s responsibilities under federal law.” Brown officials said in a statement that the university will “cooperate fully with the government's review in demonstrating compliance with the Clery Act, and will respond directly to the Department of Education's requests for information.”
   
• In the September 12, 2025, edition of the GW Weekly Federal Update we reported that ED would cease to fund new awards and non-competing continuations for several Minority-Serving Institutions’ (MSI) discretionary grant programs, totaling approximately $350 million, and redirect those funds to “programs that do not include discriminatory racial and ethnic quotas that advance Administration priorities.” On December 2, 2025, the Acting General Counsel for the Department of Education advised that MSI grant programs are unconstitutional after the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College because, among other reasons, they award money based on the percentage of students of a certain race.
   
• As reported in the November 14, 2025, edition of the GW Weekly Federal Update, ED announced a new competition under the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) focused on artificial intelligence, civil discourse, accreditation reform, and short-term workforce training programs. On January 5, 2026, the department announced the release of $169 million in grant awards through this competition. Funded projects include efforts to integrate AI into selected academic programs, develop courses and campus activities related to free expression and civic leadership, support new and transitioning accrediting bodies, and expand workforce-aligned, short-term programs eligible for Workforce Pell Grants. ED indicated that the awards are intended to address identified national priorities in postsecondary education and workforce preparation.

The National Capital Region and Other States

• In the December 4, 2025, edition of the GW Weekly Federal Update, we reported that the U.S. District Court in D.C. ruled in favor of D.C., finding that in deploying more than 2,000 National Guard troops in D.C., 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. On December 17, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued an emergency order staying implementation of the district court order pending a “fuller assessment” of the case on appeal. However, the appellate court advised that the Trump Administration “appear on this early record likely to prevail on the merits of their argument that the president possesses a unique power within the District—the seat of the federal government—to mobilize the Guard.” 

Congress

• On January 13, House and Senate appropriators released another FY26 “minibus” package containing the Financial Services–General Government and National Security–State bills, with negotiations on the Homeland Security bill still ongoing. The two-bill package could be considered on the House floor later this week. This follows action last week in which the House voted 397-28 to pass a separate three-bill minibus covering the FY26 Energy–Water, Commerce–Justice–Science, and Interior–Environment bills; the Senate is expected to take up that package this week. The bills provide $8.75 billion for the National Science Foundation (3 percent below FY25 levels), $7.25 billion for NASA Science (1 percent below FY25), $8.4 billion for the Department of Energy Office of Science (a 2 percent increase), $350 million for ARPA-E (a 24 percent reduction), and $207 million combined for the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts (level with FY25). Appropriators are expected to release another package soon covering the FY26 Defense, Labor–HHS–Education, and Transportation–HUD bills. All appropriations bills must be passed by both the House and the Senate and signed into law by the President by January 30; otherwise, Congress will need to enact another continuing resolution to prevent an additional government shutdown.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 

• On December 9, 2025, the Department of Justice issued a final rule eliminating disparate impact liability from the regulations implementing Title VI, concluding that Title VI only prohibits intentionally discriminatory conduct, not conduct that may have a discriminatory impact. In a press release announcing the rule, DOJ remarked: “The prior ‘disparate impact’ regulations encouraged people to file lawsuits challenging racially neutral policies, without evidence of intentional discrimination. Our rejection of this theory will restore true equality under the law by requiring proof of actual discrimination, rather than enforcing race- or sex-based quotas or assumptions.” The rule is consistent with Executive Order 14281, issued on April 23, 2025, which declared “[i]t is the policy of the United States to eliminate the use of disparate impact liability in all contexts to the maximum degree possible.” The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund criticized the rule, stating:  “Removing the Department of Justice’s regulations prohibiting unfair discriminatory policies takes away critical safeguards against the most insidious forms of exclusion” in policing, the court system, public jobs, and access to government services.”
   
• According to recent news reports, the Trump Administration has initiated investigations into the use of DEI initiatives at a number of major corporations, including Google and Verizon, looking into whether the companies are violating the False Claims Act. The investigation is in furtherance of a May 2025 Department of Justice enforcement initiative directing DOJ “to investigate and, as appropriate, pursue claims against any recipient of federal funds” who knowingly engages in preferences that create benefits or burdens based on race, ethnicity, or national origin.  

Federal Grantmaking and Research

• According to a National Science Foundation internal memorandum dated December 1, 2025, the National Science Foundation is reducing the role of outside experts in reviewing grant proposals as a result of NSF’s reduced workforce. NSF believes that the reduction will “enable Program Officers to expedite award and decline decisions,” providing program officers with “greater latitude to reject more proposals without sending them out for review and also to move ahead without convening a panel if they see a high-quality proposal in fields that are priorities for the Trump administration.”
   
• In the August 21, 2025, edition of the GW Weekly Federal Update, we reported that National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Jay Bhattacharya ordered an internal review “of all current and planned research activities, including active grants and funding opportunity announcements.” The review order was accompanied by a public statement identifying NIH priorities, including research on artificial intelligence, autism, and “ensuring evidence-based health care for children and teenagers identifying as transgender.” On December 12, 2025, NIH sent new guidance to NIH staff, titled “Reviewing Grants for Priority Alignment,” which among other things instructs NIH program officers on how to determine whether grants fall into the Administration’s priorities. According to one media report, the guidance pauses new funding for grants that include terms like “health equity” and “structural racism,” and “says new funding won’t be provided to ‘misaligned’ grants until ‘all areas of non-alignment have been addressed.” 
   
• In the April 10, 2025, edition of the GW Weekly Federal Update, we reported that on April 4, 2025, 16 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts against the Trump Administration challenging the Administration’s withholding and termination of NIH grant funding to universities. On December 29, 2025, the parties entered into a settlement agreement under which NIH will consider grant applications made up to September 29, 2025, without using new NIH standards still under legal challenge that discouraged gender, race and sexual orientation initiatives and vaccine research.
   
• In the April 10, 2025, edition of the GW Weekly Federal Update, we reported that NIH appealed the decision of the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts permanently prohibiting NIH from reducing the indirect cost rate to 15 percent. On January 5, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed the decision of the District Court, concluding among other reasons that NIH’s attempt to impose a 15 percent cap violated both the congressionally enacted appropriations rider and the duly adopted agency regulations. GW investigators should continue to utilize the university's federally-negotiated indirect cost rates as they develop and submit federal proposals.  

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.