GW Weekly Federal Update (October 3)

Recent Federal Actions

National Guard

• September 28: We were made aware that three National Guard members sat on a bench in the Gelman Library entrance vestibule, outside the turnstiles, for approximately 10 minutes. We can confirm that they did not attempt to enter the secure library area past the gates, and they did not interact with GW community members. They were not in the building in any official capacity. In the District, the National Guard does not have law enforcement powers. 

Government Shutdown

• October 1: The federal government entered a shutdown after no fiscal 2026 funding agreement was reached. Roughly 750,000 federal employees are being furloughed, while designated essential personnel continue working without pay. Congress is considering proposals, but a near-term resolution remains uncertain. White House budget director Russell Vought on Tuesday evening directed federal agencies to begin implementing their shutdown plans. More information is available on the Federal Update webpage regarding impacts to the National Science Foundation, Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Education.
  
  National Science Foundation: The NSF will use available carryover balances to continue daily operations for a limited time. During the lapse, systems for proposal preparation and submission (Research.gov and Grants.gov) will remain active, and payment platforms such as the Awards Cash Management Service and Invoice Processing Platform will continue to process valid payments. Recipients may continue work on existing awards if funds remain and the award period has not expired. However, no new grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, or funding opportunities will be issued, and all merit review panels scheduled during the shutdown will be canceled and rescheduled once operations resume.
  
  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: HHS will continue exempt or excepted activities, relying on carryover funds, user fees, and other sources as needed. The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response will maintain readiness for emergencies, the NIH will continue clinical and research activities necessary to protect life or property, the FDA will sustain reviews of drugs and medical devices, and the CDC will continue disease monitoring. Mandatory programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and activities of the HHS Office of Inspector General will also continue. Most other functions will pause, including oversight of extramural research grants and contracts, processing FOIA requests, routine data collection and analysis, CMS oversight of contractors, and the admission of new patients to the NIH Clinical Center unless medically necessary.
  
  U.S. Department of Education: Pell Grants, Federal Direct Student Loans, and other federal student aid will continue to be disbursed, and borrowers must continue making payments on their loans. Title I and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funding will remain available, and states, schools, and grantees will continue to draw on previously awarded funds. The Office of Federal Student Aid will retain staff as needed to carry out statutory rulemakings and required activities. However, new grantmaking will pause, the Office for Civil Rights will suspend investigations, and most development of guidance, technical assistance, and regulatory actions will halt unless tied to funded activities.

Visas and International Community

• GW, the Association of American Universities, and American Council on Education submitted comment letters this week urging the Department of Homeland Security to withdraw a proposed rule that would eliminate the long-standing “duration of status” policy and replace it with a fixed period of admission for F, J, and I visa holders. 
  
  The letters argue that the proposed changes fail to account for the typical timeline of many academic and exchange programs, would create unnecessary uncertainty and administrative burden through a new extension-of-stay process, and would undermine institutional autonomy by limiting students’ ability to change programs, transfer institutions, or pursue additional studies. In total, 21,924 public comments were submitted in response to the proposed rule.
   
• September 30: The U.S. District Court in Massachusetts ruled that the Trump Administration’s actions of threatening deportation of noncitizens at universities who protested in support of Palestinians violated the First Amendment rights of noncitizens.  The court held:  “The First Amendment does not draw President Trump’s invidious distinction, and it is not to be found in our history or jurisprudence.” “No one’s freedom of speech is unlimited, of course, but these limits are the same for both citizens and noncitizens alike.”

Federal Actions Related to Other Universities

• Harvard University:  On September 20, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it has started the debarment process against Harvard.  If successful, it would result in Harvard being ineligible to receive future federal grants.  HHS is taking this action based on its findings that Harvard failed to address acts of antisemitism on campus.
   
• Harvard University: House Education and Workforce Committee Chair Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Republican Leadership Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) sent a letter to Harvard President Alan Garber requesting detailed records and internal communications related to antisemitism on campus. 
  
  The lawmakers specifically asked for documents, timelines, and deliberations concerning antisemitic complaints, an October 2023 incident, the Harvard Business School Antisemitism Working Group report, the review of Harvard’s partnership with Birzeit University, curriculum changes tied to antisemitism concerns, Presidential Task Force action plans, and any antisemitism-related materials from Harvard’s DEI office. 

Department of Education

• September 30: The U.S. Department of Education (ED) denied GW’s appeal of the Department’s September 10 decision to prematurely discontinue all grants related to international and foreign language education. This decision effectively ends seven decades of funding for such initiatives as the National Resource Center (NRC) program, as well as the Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowships. This means the loss of the Elliott School’s two National Resource Centers (one on the Middle East and one on East Asia) and the loss of graduate fellowships that support MA students studying the Middle East and East Asia and pursuing intensive language study in those regions. Currently, there are 42 federally funded National Resource Centers (NRCs) in the U.S. and all received the same letters discontinuing their funding. As part of the same set of cuts, GW School of Business’s Center for International Business Education and Research (GW-CIBER) has been similarly cut. Together, these cuts represent a loss of nearly $1 million for the current academic year. (Inside Higher Ed has covered this issue as it has national impact.)
   
• September 29: ED began a series of negotiated rule-making sessions to implement key provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, with one of the most significant issues being how to define “professional” versus “graduate” degree programs, a classification that will determine how much students can borrow in federal loans. 
  
  Under the new law, professional programs will be eligible for up to $50,000 in federal loans annually and $200,000 total, while graduate programs will remain capped at $20,500 per year and $100,000 overall. Department officials have proposed limiting the definition of professional programs to 10 fields and have indicated they do not plan to expand that list during the current negotiations, though they remain open to future changes. The ongoing government shutdown has added further uncertainty to the process, forcing the department to furlough most of its staff and potentially slowing rule-making sessions and regulatory work needed to finalize the new loan rules.
   
• September 29: The Court of Appeals for the First Circuit granted ED’s request to stay an injunction issued by the District Court that prevented ED from laying off 276 employees at ED’s Office for Civil Rights; accordingly ED can move forward with those terminations while the case is litigated on the merits.  

Federal Grantmaking and Research

• According to media reports, the Trump Administration is proposing to revise the criteria under which federal research grants are awarded to institutions of higher education. Under the proposal, universities that affirm that they abide by Administration guidelines on, for example, use of DEI in admissions and hiring decisions and on admission of international students would be awarded a “competitive advantage.” Nine initial schools were invited to join the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.”
   
• GW joined 164 research organizations in signing a community letter led by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the Joint Associations Group on Indirect Costs (JAG) urging congressional appropriators to protect federal support for facilities and administrative (F&A) expenses in federally funded research. The letter expresses support for JAG’s proposed Financial Accountability in Research (FAIR) model as an alternative to potential administration efforts to cap indirect cost reimbursement, thanks appropriators for including supportive language in fiscal 2026 spending bills, and calls for strengthened provisions to prevent the Office of Management and Budget from instituting unwarranted caps.
  
  In addition to signing the community letter, GW sent its own letter to Senator Chris Van Hollen and Senator Angela Alsobrooks emphasizing the importance of indirect cost support for sustaining its research enterprise. The letter noted that a proposed 15% cap on F&A reimbursement could significantly limit resources needed to maintain infrastructure and support ongoing projects. It also underscored the FAIR model’s tailored approach to reimbursing real institutional costs and urged lawmakers to support legislative language protecting F&A funding, ensure OMB honors this community-driven effort, and allow for a minimum two-year transition period if a new model is adopted.

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.