Category: What’s Happening

Thursday, February 5th–9:00am

President Donald Trump has officially signed off on the funding package passed by the House Tuesday evening, ending the four-day government shutdown. Congress now has until Feb. 13 to negotiate a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, and if no deal is reached, another partial shutdown could result. For the latest updates on federal activity, sign up for our DC Digest, which is sent on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Tuesday, February 3rd–3:00pm

The federal government’s partial shutdown is close to ending after the House voted 217-214 on bipartisan lines to advance a funding package this afternoon. The measure funds most of the federal government through Sept. 30, while providing the Department of Homeland Security with short-term funding for two weeks. The House Rules Committee advanced the package yesterday upon its return from recess. Now, the bill heads to President Donald Trump’s desk, where he is expected to sign and officially end the partial shutdown. Congress has until Feb. 13 to reach a deal on funds for DHS.

Monday, February 2nd–1:00pm

The House returns to Washington today to take up a revised funding package aimed at ending the partial government shutdown that began at midnight Friday. Lawmakers will consider a five‑bill package passed by the Senate on Friday that would fund the Departments of Defense, State, Treasury, and several others, along with a two‑week extension of funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS remains the central sticking point as Democrats push for reforms to immigration enforcement practices at agencies such as ICE.

The two‑week DHS stopgap was a key Democratic demand, giving both parties until Feb. 13 to negotiate changes to immigration enforcement.

The House Rules Committee meets at 4:00pm Monday to begin moving the legislation to the floor, with final votes expected Tuesday.

Currently, the shutdown impacts nine federal departments, including those on the list in our previous update.

Friday, January 30th–3:30pm

The Duke Office of Government Relations (OGR) and Duke Health Government Relations are closely monitoring budget negotiations in Washington to assess the implications of a possible partial federal government shutdown for Duke and its activities. If such a shutdown occurs, it will take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, January 31, 2026.
 
To date, six of the twelve annual appropriations bills have been signed into law, and federal agencies funded through those bills would operate under normal circumstances should a shutdown occur. The agencies without a final appropriation for FY 26 that a partial shutdown could impact include:

• Department of Education
• Department of Health and Human Services
• Department of Homeland Security
• Department of State
• Department of Transportation
• Department of Defense

The OGR is closely coordinating with several key offices, including the Offices for Research and Innovation and Finance, to provide updates to the Duke community and to outline contingencies in place should a shutdown occur. We will continue to monitor developments and communications from the federal agencies. Still, it is possible that official guidance will not be available until after the shutdown begins. As information becomes available, it will be accessible through Duke Today, the Office of Government Relations blog, and the live updates page of myRESEARCHpath. The current expectation is that any partial shutdown would be short-term. Duke Health Government Relations will inform health system leadership about the implications of a shutdown for patients, clinical trials, hospital operations, and medical and nursing education. As with previous shutdowns, we anticipate that Social Security and Medicare checks, as well as Medicare payments to hospitals, physicians, and other providers, will continue to be distributed. However, there is a patchwork of temporary statutory waivers for telehealth services under Medicare that, unless further action is taken, will expire on January 30. Duke Health Government Relations continues to advocate for the extension of telehealth waivers and any retroactive payments that may be due. 

Below are some additional resources that will be helpful if a shutdown occurs:

From Duke University on Research Projects:

https://myresearchpath.duke.edu/impact-federal-government-shutdown-academic-research

From the American Immigration Lawyers Association:

https://www.aila.org/advo-media/aila-practice-pointers-and-alerts/government-shuts-down

OGR and Duke Health GR will continue to monitor the situation and update the Duke community as further information becomes available.

As part of the Office of Government Relations’ ongoing series tracking federal policy areas of interest to the Duke community, this update summarizes recent federal actions shaping the national research landscape.

Administration and Agency Actions

Federal agencies have undertaken a series of policy shifts and operational changes affecting universities and other research institutions.

Most recently, the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Science and Technology Policy released the administration’s FY27 R&D budget priorities, outlining a sharpened focus on artificial intelligence, quantum information science, semiconductors, next-generation energy technologies and research infrastructure. These priorities frame agency planning heading into the next fiscal year and signal continued emphasis on U.S. competitiveness and mission-aligned research.

The administration continued to issue a number of executive orders that impacted the nation’s research enterprise. These include the following:

• May 2025 Executive Order on Restoring Gold Standard Science
• May 2025 Executive Order on Improving the Safety and Security of Biological Research
• August 2025 Executive Order on Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking
• September 2025 Executive Order on Unlocking Cures for Pediatric Cancer with Artificial Intelligence
• November 2025 Executive Order on Launching the Genesis Mission

Federal research agencies have also undergone restructuring and personnel changes over the second half of this year. The Department of Energy recently released its new reorganization plan, which prioritizes nuclear energy and critical minerals and shifts focus away from clean energy programs. In May, news broke about a possible restructuring plan at the National Science Foundation (NSF) that would reduce its Senior Executive Service personnel and outside “rotators”, eliminate  and cancelling a substantial number of active research grants as part of a broader workforce and management overhaul.

At the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Director Jay Bhattacharya directed staff to review all grants, contracts and training programs to ensure alignment with current priorities and timely obligation of FY funds. This follows several related policy actions over the past year, including:

• NIH’s rollout of a unified funding strategy to improve consistency in award decisions
• New structures governing NIH-funded international research collaborations
• NIH’s initiative directing funding announcements toward human-based research approaches
• The implementation of temporary emergency modifications to peer review procedures in late November addressing operational challenges stemming from the shutdown period.

Congressional Activity

Congress remains actively engaged on research-related appropriations and oversight. At the time of this update, the final FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act has passed the House of Representatives and is awaiting final approval by the Senate before heading to President Trump for signature. The legislation includes the following provisions of interest to the Duke community.

• Authorizes $2.3 billion for basic research, $73 million above the FY 26 budget request
• Prohibits the modification of indirect cost rates for higher education institutions and nonprofit organizations without prior consultation with those groups. 
• Extends existing limits on federal support for certain international research collaborations 
• Directs the Department of Defense (DOD) to assess the potential creation of incubator programs to support secure research facilities and networks at universities. 

Notably, the conference agreement does not include the SAFE Research Act, which was included in the House version and would prohibited federal research agencies from funding researchers who collaborate with “foreign adversaries.”

Negotiations on the FY 2026 appropriations bills restarted after the 43-day government shutdown. Although the endgame for the FY 26 budget remains unclear, of note for the research community is Congress’s rejection of the drastic cuts to federal research budget proposed under the administration’s budget request. Also, appropriations bills with jurisdiction over the federal science agencies contain some version of language that would block the administration from unilaterally changing or reducing negotiated facilities and administrative (F&A) costs for universities.

The reauthorization of the SBIR/STTR programs has stalled in Congress, and the program authority officially expired on September 30, resulting in a lapse in funding. Negotiations are currently centered on passing a simple, clean reauthorization of the programs versus moving forward with an overhaul of the programs.

Court Decisions Affecting Research Funding

A series of high-impact court rulings continues to shape agency grantmaking practices and indirect cost policies central to university research operations.

• NIH and NSF Grant Terminations
  • A federal judge ordered NIH to restore roughly $500 million in suspended UCLA research funds, finding the freezes “likely arbitrary and capricious.”
  • The Supreme Court allowed the administration to proceed with nearly $800 million in NIH grant reductions while legal challenges continue.
  • A separate federal case challenging NSF’s termination of more than $1 billion in DEI-related grants will move forward, though the judge declined to reinstate funding at this stage.
• Indirect Cost Policies
  • The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments over NIH’s 15 percent indirect cost cap, with judges expressing skepticism about DOJ’s jurisdiction arguments and citing congressional language barring “modified” F&A approaches.
  • A federal district court vacated the DOD’s indirect cost cap as unlawful; an appeal is expected.
  • The NSF subsequently withdrew its appeal in its own indirect-cost litigation, making the district court’s vacatur of NSF’s 15 percent cap final.

Research Community and Coalition Advocacy

Several coalitions in which Duke participates have recently issued statements or letters in support of robust federal research funding. The Energy Sciences Coalition sent a letter to leaders at the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Science and Technology Policy requesting no less than $9.5 billion for the DOE  Office of Science in FY27, citing strong alignment with the administration’s research priorities, including artificial intelligence, microelectronics, and advanced materials.

The Coalition for National Science Funding sent a letter to congressional leadership urging them to provide the highest funding level possible for the National Science Foundation as they work to finalize FY26 appropriations.