GW Weekly Federal Update (July 24)

Recent Federal Actions

• On July 18, the Department of Education issued a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) addressing multiple aspects of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that amend the Higher Education Act (HEA) and impact the administration of HEA programs.  The DCL provides preliminary guidance to higher education institutions and federal student aid partners on changes to income-based repayment plans, Parent PLUS Loan repayment options for parents, loan limits for part-time students, public service loan forgiveness, borrower defense to repayment regulations, and loan discharge rules and regulations. 
   
• On July 18, a senior State Department official testified in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts that the Department has considered an individual’s criticism of Israel when reviewing and revoking student visas. The official emphasized national security concerns and a case-by-case approach, but he acknowledged that statements opposing Zionism or U.S. military aid to Israel could influence decisions. The State Department’s actions follow an executive order directing agencies to monitor foreign students and staff for antisemitic or terrorism-related activity. During the proceeding the Court suggested that many of the statements in question likely fall under protected First Amendment speech.
   
• On July 18, the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts issued a preliminary injunction in the Association of American Universities’ (AAU) challenge to the Department of Defense’s announced 15% cap on indirect cost rates for research grants. Following three other cases that enjoined and/or vacated similar announcements and actions, the court found that the announced rate cap is an attempt to force educational institutions into sharing costs of research “through unauthorized sleight of hand,” rejecting the Administration’s argument that grant regulations permit agencies to set new indirect cost rates for institutions through notice only.
   
• On July 17, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in a notice titled “Supporting Fairness and Originality in NIH Research Applications,” announced that it would no longer accept more than six “new, renewal, resubmission or revision applications” per principal investigator per calendar year, and that it would not “consider applications that are either substantially developed by AI, or contain sections substantially developed by AI, to be original ideas of applicants.”
   
• On July 18, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit refused to stay a District Court’s order directing the Trump Administration to begin reinstating NIH research grants terminated earlier this year. The appellate court upheld the District Court’s order that found the grant terminations had violated the Administrative Procedure Act.
   
• The latest on federal actions related to George Mason University: In the July 17 edition of the GW Weekly Federal Update, we reported that the Department of Education opened two civil rights investigations into George Mason University, one relating to allegations of antisemitism and the second on allegations that the university used race as a factor in faculty hiring and promotion decisions. Since then, the Justice Department notified George Mason that it too is investigating allegations of race and national origin discrimination in admissions and student benefits policies as well as in its hiring policies. In a press release, the Justice Department stated that it was also investigating the university’s response to antisemitism on campus.
   
• In the July 17 edition of the GW Weekly Federal Update, we reported that the Senate Appropriations Committee had held a markup of the Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations bill. It approved the bill on July 18 by a vote of 19 to 10, signaling strong support for preserving current funding levels for major research agencies. The Senate bill includes $9 billion for the National Science Foundation and $24.9 billion for NASA, including $7.3 billion for NASA, rejecting the steep cuts proposed in the Trump Administration’s budget request. The House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to mark up its version of the CJS bill on July 24, which proposes lower levels of funding for NSF and NASA. The House has already advanced its FY26 Energy-Water bill, which provides $8.4 billion for the Department of Energy Office of Science, a $160 million increase from FY25.
   
• Speaker Mike Johnson ended the House’s legislative session early this week, sending lawmakers home on Wednesday instead of Thursday. The decision came as Democrats prepared to force procedural votes related to the possible release of documents tied to the Jeffrey Epstein case, an issue that has exposed divisions among House Republicans. As a result, several planned votes on immigration, environmental policy, and regulatory measures were postponed until after the summer recess.
   
• In the July 17 edition of the GW Weekly Federal Update, we reported that the Joint Associations Group, which includes the Association of American Universities (AAU), has proposed a framework for calculating reimbursable costs associated with research. In support of preserving existing indirect cost rates while this model is further developed, several FY26 House and Senate bills include provisions that block agencies from making unilateral changes to indirect cost rates. Those bills include the Senate FY26 National Defense Authorization Act, the Senate Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill, and report language accompanying the House Defense and Energy-Water bills.
   
• The latest on federal actions related to Harvard University: On July 22, the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts held a hearing on Harvard’s motion for summary judgment challenging the Trump Administration’s withholding of billions of dollars in federal grant funding. While the Court did not issue a ruling after the hearing, the Court at one point in the hearing called the Administration’s arguments “a bit mindboggling,” and asked “how the Administration could reasonably tie withdrawal of medical research funding to concerns about the civil rights of Jewish people.” One day later, the State Department notified Harvard that it has opened a new investigation into Harvard’s compliance with the Exchange Visitor Program, which is designed to promote cultural and educational programs with visas for a variety of applicants, including students and professors as well as researchers and interns.
   
• The latest on federal actions related to Columbia University: On July 23, Columbia University announced that it has resolved all pending investigations brought against it by various federal agencies. Under the terms of the settlement, Columbia agreed to pay $221 million in fines, codify a series of reforms Columbia committed to in March 2025, and the joint appointment of an “independent monitor” who will assess Columbia’s implementation of those reforms. The agreement requires Columbia to “provide regular reports to the monitor, documenting its adherence to the agreement and its continued compliance with applicable federal laws and regulations pertaining to admissions, hiring, and international students.” In turn, the Trump Administration restored over $400 million in federal grants and will allow Columbia to be considered for future government funding. Columbia emphasized that the “agreement preserves Columbia’s autonomy and authority over faculty hiring, admissions, and academic decision-making.” On July 22, Columbia announced that it had taken disciplinary action against over 70 students who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations last spring. Those actions include “probation, suspensions (ranging from one year to three years), degree revocations, and expulsions.”
   
• According to media reports, the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security requested from the University of Chicago detailed information about its “admissions practices and international students.”
   
• On July 23, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced investigations into five universities: the University of Louisville, University of Nebraska Omaha, University of Miami, University of Michigan, and Western Michigan University. The investigations will examine whether certain scholarships at these institutions violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by offering funding exclusively to undocumented or DACA-designated students, potentially excluding U.S. citizens and lawful residents based on national origin. The inquiries follow complaints submitted by the Equal Protection Project, which also raised concerns about additional scholarships that may exclude students based on race or color.
   
• On July 17, America First Legal, a “national, nonprofit organization committed to upholding the rule of law and advancing equal protection of the law for all Americans” formed by Trump Administration deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, sent a letter to the Justice Department urging the department to investigate Johns Hopkins University for “its systemic, intentional, and ongoing discrimination within its School of Medicine on the basis of race, sex, ethnicity, national origin, and other impermissible, immutable characteristics under the pretext of “diversity, equity, and inclusion.” The letter alleges also that DEI practices at the School of Medicine “are part of a comprehensive, university-wide regime of racial engineering.”
   
• In a Federal Register notice on June 23, the Trump Administration invited universities to apply for grants to offer seminars for K-12 educators and students related to next year’s 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.  According to the notice, “priority will be given to applicants from institutions of higher education that have established independent academic units dedicated to civic thought, constitutional studies, American history, leadership, and economic liberty,” who “demonstrate a sustained commitment to robust civil discourse, the liberal arts, and the study of American history and politics through primary documents.”
   
• On July 21, House Republicans advanced a federal spending bill out of the Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee that would impose significant restrictions on Washington, D.C.’s local authority, affecting a wide range of city policies and budget decisions. The legislation includes provisions that would block D.C. from enforcing traffic laws with automated cameras, funding police accountability measures, implementing emissions standards, and protecting employees from discrimination based on reproductive health choices. It also seeks to repeal the city’s Death With Dignity Act, ban noncitizen voting in local elections, and allow concealed carry permit holders from any state to carry firearms in the District. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton expressed strong opposition to the bill, noting its broad impact on the city's budget and local governance. The bill must still be marked up by the full House Appropriations Committee before advancing to the House floor for a vote.
   
• The recently passed reconciliation bill, H.R.1, is projected to affect approximately 95,000 D.C. residents, or about 32 percent of the city’s Medicaid population, according to District estimates. The legislation includes new federal work requirements, set to take effect on December 31, 2026, which will require residents ages 19 to 64 to complete 80 hours of work or service each month to maintain Medicaid eligibility. To comply, D.C. and other jurisdictions will need to develop employment verification systems, which local officials note could create additional administrative costs. Maryland projects that 175,000 residents could lose Medicaid coverage and the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee estimates that 166,000 people could lose Medicaid coverage in Virginia, along with anticipated reductions in health care funding that support hospitals and clinics across the region.

Resources and Reminders

About this Newsletter

To ensure that students, faculty and staff feel supported and informed about how federal developments affect higher education and GW, the university launched a weekly Federal Update. This newsletter shares timely information, addresses questions and provides resources.