GW Weekly Federal Update (January 22)

Recent Federal Actions

Department of Education

• On January 16, the Department of Education announced a temporary pause on involuntary collection efforts for defaulted federal student loans, including administrative wage garnishment and the Treasury Offset Program, after having begun issuing initial garnishment notices earlier this month. ED said the pause will provide additional time to implement new repayment and rehabilitation options authorized under the Working Families Tax Cuts Act and allow borrowers in default to assess those options. According to ED, the delay is intended to support the transition to updated repayment structures before resuming involuntary collections. The announcement comes as more than 5 million borrowers remain in default and as policymakers continue to weigh administrative capacity, borrower affordability concerns, and the broader operation of the federal student loan system.
   
• On January 14, ED announced that it has opened investigations of 18 lower and higher education institutions regarding whether they are violating Title IX by permitting students to participate in sports based on their gender identity, not biological sex. ED asserted in its press release that policies that allow biological males to compete in women’s sports “jeopardize both the safety and equal opportunities of women in educational programs and activities.” Those under investigation include Santa Monica College, the University of Nevada-Reno, and the New York City Department of Education. A finding of violation could result in the loss of federal funding.
   
• In the August 21, 2025, edition of the GW Weekly Federal Update, we reported that on August 14, the U.S. District Court in Maryland invalidated two Trump Administration actions relating to DEI programs at educational institutions. The court concluded that the Department of Education’s threat to cut federal funding to schools and universities that engage in “race-based decision-making,” among other things, did not comply with the notice and comment procedural requirements under the Administrative Procedures Act. The court did not rule on the underlying legality of the directives themselves. The Trump Administration subsequently appealed the ruling. On January 21, the Administration withdrew its appeal, without explanation.
   
• In the October 17, 2025, edition of the GW Weekly Federal Update, we reported that the Trump Administration invited nine universities to join the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” which promised signatories that they would receive a competitive advantage in the award of federal grants and contracts and that the Administration extended an open invitation to all institutions of higher education to sign on to the Compact. In a recent interview, ED Secretary Linda McMahon said that the Compact “was a draft version, preliminary version, that went out that was intended to be sent to universities to get their reaction from it,” and that ED is “working on developing the right kind of compact with some input that we’re already getting.” No timeline was given as to when ED would release a revised Compact. In the same interview, Secretary McMahon said that an agreement with Harvard to resolve outstanding issues between the government and the school relating to DEI is “close,” after Harvard made certain unspecified “concessions.” In an interview January 20, President Trump confirmed that the two sides were close to an agreement.

Congress

• Congressional appropriators have released the final four FY26 spending bills—Defense, Homeland Security, Labor-HHS-Education, and Transportation-HUD—completing a minibus that puts Congress on track to pass all 12 appropriations bills by the end of the month and preventing an additional government shutdown. If enacted, the FY26 appropriations package will require agencies including the Department of Commerce, DOD, DOE, NASA, NIH, and NSF to continue applying negotiated indirect cost rates consistent with prior-year practices, providing stability for the research enterprise and allowing continued progress toward potential Financial Accountability in Research (FAIR) model implementation in FY27. 
   
  • The FY26 Defense bill provides $838.7 billion for the Department of Defense, exceeding the administration’s request by $8.4 billion, and includes $145.9 billion for research, development, testing, and evaluation, representing a $4.7 billion increase over FY25. Appropriators emphasized sustained investment in basic and applied research and emerging technologies to meet future national security needs.
  • The Labor-HHS-Education bill continues congressional support for biomedical research, providing $47.2 billion for the National Institutes of Health and $1.5 billion for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), and once again rejecting steep reductions proposed in the president’s budget. The bill also limits NIH’s use of forward funding to 39 percent of new awards, preserving the FY25 policy.
  • The Labor-HHS-Education bill provides $79 billion in discretionary funding for the Department of Education, maintaining the maximum Pell Grant award at $7,395 for the 2026-27 academic year and sustaining funding for Federal Work Study, FSEOG, and TRIO programs. It includes $790 million for the Institute of Education Sciences, a reduction from FY25; however, this is far less than the proposed cuts and requires biweekly briefings to appropriators on staffing transfers, implementation costs, and program delivery.
  • Both the Defense and Labor-HHS-Education bills include statutory protections for negotiated indirect cost rates, preventing federal agencies from arbitrarily capping facilities and administrative cost recovery. The legislation requires NIH and the Department of Defense to continue applying negotiated indirect cost rates as they were used in prior fiscal years and prohibits agencies from using FY26 funds to develop or implement alternative methodologies.
  • Joint explanatory statements accompanying the bills acknowledge the need for improvements to the indirect cost recovery system and identify the Financial Accountability in Research (FAIR) model as warranting further consideration. The Labor-HHS-Education statement specifically directs agencies to engage with appropriators on proposals to improve indirect cost recovery, including the FAIR model.

The National Capital Region and Other States

• Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger announced new appointments to the governing boards of the University of Virginia, George Mason University, and the Virginia Military Institute. At the University of Virginia, she appointed 10 members to the Board of Visitors. The changes followed ongoing disputes over the university’s leadership, including the removal of its former president and a board agreement with the Trump Administration addressing diversity programs and admissions practices. Spanberger also appointed 12 new board members at George Mason University and five new members at the Virginia Military Institute. Both George Mason University and the University of Virginia have received heightened public and federal attention in the past year related to governance, leadership decisions, or compliance with federal policy priorities.
   
• In the December 11, 2025, edition of the GW Weekly Federal Update, we reported that on December 8, the Department of Justice filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit against Loudoun County Public Schools brought by two students, who are Christian.  The students allege that the County violated Title IX by suspending them for allegedly harassing another student who “appears as a female” and who used the boys locker room. In its motion to intervene, DOJ alleges that the County violated the students’ right to equal protection under the 14th Amendment by “requiring students and faculty to accept and promote gender ideology,” regardless of their religious beliefs. At a hearing held on January 16, the U.S. District Court in Virginia denied DOJ’s request to join the lawsuit, holding that doing so would be inconsistent with a Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decision holding that school districts could not discriminate against transgender students by prohibiting them from using restrooms that match their gender identity.  The district court also denied the County’s motion to dismiss the case. Finally, the court referred the case to mediation before a magistrate judge. 

Higher Education Institutions 

• Penn: In the December 4, 2025, edition of the GW Weekly Federal Update, we reported that 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 among other information the names and contact information of Jewish faculty and staff, student employees, and those employees who are members of on-campus Jewish groups, as part of the EEOC’s investigation of Penn regarding alleged religious, national origin, and race-based harassment of Penn employees. On January 20, Penn filed a response in opposition, writing that the EEOC’s demand for this information “implicates Penn’s substantial interest in protecting its employees’ privacy, safety, and First Amendment rights,” and that the EEOC “insists that Penn produce this information without the consent—and indeed, over the objections—of the employees impacted while entirely disregarding the frightening and well-documented history of governmental entities that undertook efforts to identify and assemble information regarding persons of Jewish ancestry.”

Federal Grantmaking and Research

• In the November 20, 2025 edition of the GW Weekly Federal Update, we reported that on November 18, the Trump administration announced the Department of Labor would assume responsibility from the Department of Education for major K-12 and postsecondary programs, including Title I and Title II, and administer institutional grant programs such as TRIO, which supports low-income and first-generation students and provides important benefits to students at universities, including GW. ED announced in a January 15 press release that ED staff responsible for administering these programs will be detailed to the Department of Labor and that grant recipients in the programs will transition to Labor’s grant and payment management system.
   
• In several prior editions of the GW Weekly Federal Update, we reported that ED froze or canceled 3 percent of all TRIO outreach and student services grant programs designed to identify and provide services for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds—such as low-income individuals, first-generation college students, and individuals with disabilities—to progress through the academic pipeline from middle school to postbaccalaureate programs based on ED’s belief that the programs were inconsistent with the Trump Administration’s Executive Orders on DEI. On January 16, the U.S. District Court for D.C. issued an order enjoining ED from implementing or enforcing the cancellation notices, at least until ED reconsiders its decision, concluding that ED did not “sufficiently explain its decisions or follow statutory and regulatory requirements for canceling the grants.” 
   
• The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced $75.1 million in new grant awards following significant operational and governance changes at the agency. In 2025, the administration proposed eliminating NEH funding, and the Department of Government Efficiency issued termination notices to approximately 65 percent of NEH staff while cancelling more than 1,000 grants totaling about $175 million (actions that were later limited by a federal court). The White House also removed most members of the National Council on the Humanities. The awards support faculty fellowships, preservation and archival training, humanities curriculum development, public programs tied to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, long-term endowments, and major editorial projects on U.S. presidential papers, as well as selected public exhibitions, lectures, and cultural preservation efforts.

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.