GW Weekly Federal Update (January 29)

Recent Federal Actions

Visas and International Community

• In the October 3 edition of the GW Weekly Federal Update, we reported that 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. On January 22, the court issued an annotated judgment, holding among other things that the Trump Administration implemented Executive Orders 14161 and 14188 in a “viewpoint-discriminatory way to chill protected speech that violated the First Amendment.” The Court held that affected noncitizen members of the plaintiffs’ organizations may challenge adverse immigration actions, shifting the burden to the government to prove by clear and convincing evidence that such actions were not retaliatory or were otherwise lawful, while automatically staying removal during litigation.

Department of Education

• On January 26, the Department of Education (ED) announced its intent to initiate negotiated rulemaking to revise federal regulations governing higher education accreditation. ED plans to convene an Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization (AIM) negotiated rulemaking committee and is soliciting nominations for committee members, with two multi-day sessions scheduled for April and May. According to the Department, the rulemaking will address topics that include the process for recognizing accreditors, requirements applied to accrediting agencies, the role of student outcome measures, standards related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the relationship between accreditors and affiliated trade associations. While the announcement outlines broad policy objectives, specific regulatory proposals have not yet been released, and department officials indicated that further details will be developed through the negotiated rulemaking process.
   
• On January 28, ED announced that it found San Jose State University to have violated Title IX, concluding that the university’s “policies allowing males to compete in women’s sports and access female-only facilities deny women equal educational opportunities and benefits.” ED issued the university a proposed resolution agreement that would require it to, among other things, “issue a public statement to the SJSU community that SJSU will adopt biology-based definitions of the words ‘male’ and ‘female’ and acknowledge that the sex of a human - male or female - is unchangeable.”
   
• ED announced that it will no longer automatically enforce a requirement that owners of private nonprofit and for-profit colleges assume liability through Program Participation Agreements in order to access federal student aid. The policy, adopted under the Biden administration, was intended to hold owners accountable for institutional debts, misuse of federal funds, and compliance with federal aid laws. Following a legal challenge and settlement with a Missouri-based religious institution, the department stated that owner signatures will instead be required on a case-by-case basis when deemed necessary to protect the financial interests of the United States, and that the change will be applied prospectively, with additional clarification expected through future regulatory action.

Congress

• The Senate’s consideration of a six-bill FY26 appropriations minibus has become uncertain following divisions over funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Last week, the House passed four FY26 spending bills covering Defense, Labor-HHS-Education, Transportation-HUD, and Homeland Security, and combined them with the Financial Services–General Government and National Security–State bills into a single package sent to the Senate. President Trump has already signed several other FY26 appropriations measures into law. Although the Senate initially aimed to pass the minibus by January 30 to avoid a second government shutdown this fiscal year, Senate Democratic leaders have stated they will not support proceeding if the package includes the Homeland Security bill, citing concerns following recent fatal shootings involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis.
  
  Senate Democrats have called for advancing the other five spending bills while discussions continue on potential changes to the Homeland Security measure, though any revisions would require House approval while the chamber remains in recess for the remainder of the week. Senate Republicans have indicated they intend to move forward with the six-bill package as drafted and are exploring alternative options, including potential executive actions, to address Democratic concerns without amending the legislation. With a Senate vote scheduled for Thursday and current funding set to expire at the end of the week, lawmakers from both parties are engaged in internal discussions as the path forward remains unresolved.
   
• Senator Bill Cassidy, chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, has initiated an inquiry into math course placement practices at selective colleges and universities. Cassidy sent letters to 35 institutions requesting information on freshman math placement outcomes, how placement decisions are determined, the presence of math courses that include precollege-level content, institution-wide math graduation requirements, and whether standardized tests such as the SAT or ACT are required for admission, with responses due by February 5. The inquiry references a University of California, San Diego working group report that found some first-year students placed into math courses below a middle school level despite having strong high school math grade point averages. Cassidy stated that the inquiry is intended to collect data to better understand math preparedness and placement practices at selective institutions.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 

• On January 22, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), by a 2-1 vote, rescinded the “Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace” issued by the EEOC in 2024 that, among other things, included guidance that misgendering employees is a form of discrimination under Title VII. The EEOC Chair noted that Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” directed the EEOC to rescind the guidance. As we reported in the May 22, 2025 edition of the GW Weekly Federal Update, the U.S. District Court in Texas had already vacated portions of this guidance addressing choice of restrooms, pronoun usage and other topics regarding transgender people in the workplace.

Federal Grantmaking and Research

• On January 22, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that it would no longer support research that utilizes fetal tissue donated to science after elective abortions.  The Policy applies to the NIH Intramural Research Program and all extramural research including competitive applications for grants and cooperative agreements, other transaction awards, and R&D contract proposals submitted to solicitations issued after January 22. In a press release, the NIH Director stated that “this decision is about advancing science by investing in breakthrough technologies more capable of modeling human health and disease. Under President Trump’s leadership, taxpayer-funded research must reflect the best science of today and the values of the American people.”
   
• The National Science Foundation (NSF) has released a draft FY 2026–2030 Strategic Plan outlining the agency’s mission, vision, core values, and strategic priorities. The plan is structured around three strategic goals focused on investing in transformative research and innovation to support U.S. excellence and national security; strengthening American leadership in science and technology by developing STEM talent and expanding capacity across regions and institutions; and modernizing NSF’s operations to improve accountability, workforce agility, and administrative efficiency. Across these goals, the draft emphasizes partnerships with academia, industry, nonprofits, and government; investment in critical and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum information science, and biotechnology; safeguarding the research enterprise; and reducing administrative burden on the research community. NSF solicited public input earlier this month to inform implementation, with feedback intended to support internal planning, performance measurement, and future policy and program decisions.

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.