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Overview of Executive Orders and Agency Directives

Since his inauguration, President Trump has issued a significant number of federal executive orders and agency directives, many of which will affect our investigators' upcoming federal proposals and existing federal grants and contracts. While some agencies have begun issuing updates, many others are still in the process of determining how they will implement these E.O.s and directives. As a result, there is a great deal of speculation about the implications of the changes, and we understand that many of our investigators have questions and concerns about how to move forward with their proposals and grants and contracts.

Rice University leadership is closely monitoring these developments and will update this web page as the White House and federal agencies release additional guidance.

Please visit this page often. It is important that you stay informed to ensure that you remain compliant with all guidance. The information below will help you stay on top of, understand, and gain insight into the changes and how they will affect your proposals and grants and contracts.

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Latest Status Update (June 9, 2025)

This afternoon, at least 24 universities, including Rice, Caltech, MIT, Stanford, and Johns Hopkins, filed this amicus brief in federal court in Boston. The brief is intended to support Harvard University's recent lawsuit against the US Department of Health and Human Services. In particular, the brief will discuss the history of federal funding for research universities, and illustrate the harmful impact of recent funding cuts on important, even lifesaving research.

Here are the main points the brief makes:

• Federal research funding to universities has been a US priority since World War II.
• It benefited the nation in countless ways, including the development of the internet, the human genome project and other medical developments, economic growth, and global technology leadership.
• The work of research universities is highly interconnected.
• Cuts to research funding will have important consequences, including lost opportunities to collaborate, train young scientists, and conduct basic research.
• Cuts will irreparably harm universities, researchers, and the nation if funding is withdrawn for reasons unrelated to the research itself.
• Cuts will be especially unfair if they are disproportionate to the errors a university (like Harvard) has allegedly committed.

For those wondering, an amicus brief is not a lawsuit, but a legal brief that a non-party files with a court. In other words, it’s filed by an entity (or person) that is neither a plaintiff nor a defendant in the case. Like affidavits or sworn declarations, amicus briefs help educate a judge about (a) a specific, technical point of law and/or (b) how their ruling practically affects other parties who aren’t involved in the lawsuit. Often, the authors of an amicus brief ask others to co-sign their amicus brief. They solicit these co-signers to show the court that the lawsuit affects not only the plaintiff and defendant, but a broad swath of companies or industries.

Questions? We'll continue updating you as we learn more. Please feel free to send any questions to research@rice.edu or osp@rice.edu or, for legal advice, to omar.syed@rice.edu or jlc@rice.edu.

Update (May 28, 2025)

On May 14, the Secretary of Defense issued a memo stating that the Department of Defense will soon lower the F&A rates on future awards to 15%, and attempt to renegotiate existing awards down to that rate. As one can imagine, Rice and the AAU have been monitoring this development, and the AAU is likely to sue the DoD to prevent this reduction.

But last week, the DoD appears to have jumped the gun, emailing a Rice PI to suggest that Rice's F&A rate has already been reduced to 15%. Based on recent communications with the U.S. Department of Justice, we believe the DoD's email to Rice was inaccurate. In fact, the other day, the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed that the DoD recently “sent out a [internal] message instructing its grants community that the 15% rate is not effective immediately, and that DoD components should ensure that premature implementation of Secretary Hegseth’s memo does not occur.”

So for now, Rice will assume that our DoD grants, like other grants, continue to be funded at Rice's full F&A rate.

Based on the Department of Justice's statement, we recommend that, if you receive emails from the DoD implying an immediate F&A reduction, you reply by stating that “We understand that the 15% rate in Secretary Hegseth’s memo is not immediately effective and that you should have received a communication to that effect from your leadership. We will therefore be continuing with our negotiated rate. Please confirm.” When you send those replies, please cc research@rice.edu and osp@rice.edu.

Questions? We'll continue updating you as we learn more. Please feel free to send any questions to research@rice.edu or osp@rice.edu or, for legal advice, to omar.syed@rice.edu or jlc@rice.edu.

Update (May 15, 2025)

We are writing to provide updated guidance on F&A rates for federal grants.
Over a stretch of several weeks starting in February, the NIH, DOE, and NSF each reduced to 15% their F&A rates for grants made to university researchers. After each announcement, coalitions led by the AAU filed suit to prevent the rate reductions.
Since these developments, Rice faculty members have asked three important questions:

1. Should I submit my next federal grant proposal with a 15% F&A rate, or instead with Rice's existing, negotiated rate of 56.5%?
2. What will happen if I make the wrong decision?
3. Will Rice participate in the legal efforts to stop these reductions to F&A?

On the first two questions, our guidance is that Rice PIs should continue to request an F&A rate of 56.5% from all federal granting agencies, including the NSF, NIH, DOE, and others.

Here’s why:

• On April 4, a federal judge in Boston granted a permanent injunction against the NIH’s plan to cap F&A rates at 15%.
• Yesterday, May 15, a different federal judge in Boston granted a preliminary injunction against the DOE’s similar plan.
• The federal courts have not yet ruled on the AAU’s request for a preliminary injunction against the NSF. But on May 14, when asked about new proposals pending a ruling from the court, NSF representatives explained to the AAU that the NSF has “no plans to reject or disregard the proposals after submission to NSF based on the use of the NICRA [Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement - in Rice’s case, an F&A rate of 56.5%] in the proposals. Instead, NSF anticipates that there would be a conversation with the IHE [submitting institution of higher education] regarding the proposal.”

Based on the outcomes of the NIH and DOE lawsuits, and on the AAU's guidance, we strongly reaffirm Rice’s earlier guidance to continue submitting proposals at the rate specified in Rice's NICRA: 56.5%.

On the last question: yes, Rice is actively collaborating with the AAU in its lawsuits against the NIH, DOE, and NSF. Most recently, on May 5, Rice supported the AAU’s suit against the NSF by submitting this sworn declaration from Provost and Executive Vice President Amy Dittmar. The Provost's declaration joins sworn statements submitted by leaders from UChicago, Caltech, Cornell, MIT, Michigan, Vanderbilt, Yale, and other AAU institutions. Like Rice's similar statement in the NIH lawsuit, this document was filed with the court to support the AAU's lawsuit and explain the tangible impact of the proposed F&A cuts on Rice.

Questions? We'll continue updating you as we learn more. Please feel free to send any questions to research@rice.edu or osp@rice.edu or, for legal advice, to omar.syed@rice.edu or jlc@rice.edu.

Update (May 2, 2025)

Today, the National Science Foundation issued a policy notice that decreases the F&A (indirect cost reimbursement) rate to 15% for existing NSF awards and cooperative agreements made to institutions of higher education.

A handful of quick things to know:

• The rate cut takes effect Monday, May 5, and applies only to new NSF awards and cooperative agreements – those issued on/after May 5.
• Importantly, it does not apply retroactively to existing NSF awards. The F&A rate for those awards will continue to be Rice’s negotiated rate: 56.5%
• The cut also does not apply to NSF awards amended before May 5.
• For that reason, Rice PIs need not amend budgets for NSF awards issued before May 5.
• For that matter, Rice will not be required to return previously reimbursed indirect costs.
• Previous attempts by the National Institutes of Health and U.S. Department of Energy to reduce F&A rates have been stalled by lawsuits. For that reason, the negotiated F&A rates for active NIH and DOE awards remain unchanged.
• Early next week, the Association of American Universities (of which Rice is an active member) is likely to file suit against the NSF. In that suit, the AAU will ask a federal court to prohibit the NSF from reducing negotiated F&A rates.

As you might imagine, this situation is developing by the hour. If you have already submitted an NSF grant proposal, there is nothing else to do for now. If you plan to submit a grant proposal soon, please contact the Office of Research (research@rice.edu) for the latest guidance.

Questions? We'll continue updating you as we learn more. Please feel free to send any questions to osp@rice.edu or, for legal advice, to omar.syed@rice.edu or jlc@rice.edu.

Federal Funding Key Points

• Mapping Out the Endgame for FY25 Appropriations (February 13, 2025)
• Rice researchers are transforming lives by conducting groundbreaking research in crucial fields such as health and medicine, national security and defense, energy and climate, life sciences, artificial intelligence and many more, driving real-world impact and innovation.
• Research and scholarship are vital to Rice’s mission and critical to the success and wellbeing of our nation. As such, university leaders have been proactively communicating with faculty, staff and students about any challenges they may face during this time of transition and uncertainty. We are also — as always — engaging closely with policymakers and federal offices.
• The U.S. must maintain its global economic, scientific and technological leadership—halting critical research threatens this position.
  • Even a brief pause in federally funded research weakens our competitive edge, particularly in areas like AI, where international competitors are rapidly advancing.
• In FY2024, Rice received $218M in research funding, with 59% ($129M) from federal sources like the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense and Department of Energy. Key projects include:
  • Rice is part of a $34.9M ARPA-H project to develop a bioelectronic implant aimed at improving treatment for obesity and Type 2 diabetes.
  • A Rice-engineered brain stimulator, funded by the NSF, could transform treatment for drug-resistant depression and other disorders.
  • Funded by the DOE, Rice researchers developed an electrochemical reactor to extract lithium from brine, addressing the growing demand for battery materials.
• Federal agencies must provide clear, timely guidance to prevent unnecessary and costly research disruptions.
  • We urge the administration to reconsider their approach and work collaboratively to ensure continued scientific progress and economic stability.
  • We are committed to partnering with the administration to understand the implications of their decisions and to minimize disruption to America’s scientific innovation and leadership.

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Executive Orders and Related Resources

Decision Tree for DEIA language in grants

• Start
  • Does the title or abstract contain DEIA keywords? Check if the title contains any of the ‘trigger’ terms referred to in Executive Order: Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing.
    • Yes Retain flag, DEIA language found (Category 3)
      • Red Flag
    • NoIf no, continue reviewing award.
      • Does the project summary contain DEIA keywords? Check if the title contains any of the ‘trigger’ terms referred to in Executive Order: Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing.
        • Yes Retain flag, DEIA language found (Category 3)
          • Red Flag
        • No If no, continue reviewing award.
          • Does the project description contain DEIA keywords? Check if the title contains any of the ‘trigger’ terms referred to in Executive Order: Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing.
            • Yes Retain flag, DEIA language found (Category 3)
              • Red Flag
            • No No DEIA language found. Add comment to explain why “no” was chosen (Category 1)
              • Category 1

Introductory Articles about Executive Orders

• Trump is signing a flurry of executive orders. Here's how those work (Rachel Treisman, NPR, January 21, 2025) Council on Governmental Relations (COGR)
• Administration Transition Information and Resources (comprensive resource)
• Summary of Executive Orders (second version, released January 28, 2025)

White House Actions and Executive Orders

• Executive Orders: An Introduction (Congressional Research Service, March 29, 2021)
• White House Actions and Executive Orders (full list)
• White House Actions and Executive Orders (select list by topic area)
  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
    • Radical Transparency about Wasteful Spending (February 18, 2025)
    • Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-based Opportunity (January 21, 2025)
    • Reforming the Federal Hiring Process and Restoring Merit to Government Service (January 20, 2025)
    • Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing (January 20, 2025)
  • Public Health
    • Making America healthy again by empowering patients with clear, accurate, and actionable healthcare pricing information (February 25)
    • Keeping Education Accessible and Ending COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates in Schools (February 15, 2025)
    • Establishing the President's Make America Healthy Again Commission (February 13, 2025)
    • Withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization (January 20, 2025)
  • Energy, Sustainability, Environment, Climate Change
    • Establishing the National Energy Dominance Council (February 14, 2025)
    • Ending Procurement and Forced Use of Paper Straws (February 10, 2025)
    • Unleashing Alaska's Exraordinary Resource Potential (January 20, 2025)
    • Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Wind Leasing and Review of the Federal Government's Leasing and Permitting Practices for Wind Projects (January 20, 2025)
    • Declaring a National Energy Emergency (January 20, 2025)
    • Putting People over Fish: Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California (January 20, 2025)
    • Unleashing American Energy (January 20, 2025)
    • Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements (January 20, 2025)
  • Immigration
    • Progress on the Situation at Our Southern Border (February 3, 2025)
    • Imposing Duties to Address the Situation at Our Southern Border (February 1, 2025)
    • President Donald J. Trump Signed S.5 into Law (January 29, 2025)
    • Expanding Migrant Operations Center at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to Full Capacity (January 29, 2025)
    • Guaranteeing the States Protection Against Invasion (January 20, 2025)
    • Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats (January 20, 2025)
    • Protecting the American People Against Invasion (January 20, 2025)
    • Securing Our Borders (January 20, 2025)
    • Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship (January 20, 2025)
    • Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program (January 20, 2025)
    • Clarifying the Military's Role in Protecting the Territorial Integrity of the United States (January 20, 2025)
    • Declaring a National Emergency at the Southern Border of the United States (January 20, 2025)
  • Foreign Aid
    • Withdrawing the United States from and Ending Funding to Certain United Nations Organizations and Reviewing United States Support to All International Organizations (February 4, 2025)
    • Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid (January 20, 2025)
  • Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)
    • Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President's "Department of Government Efficiency" Deregulatory Initiative (Febraury 19, 2025)
    • Implementing the President's "Department of Government Efficiency" Workforce Optimization Initiative (February 11, 2025)
    • Establishing and Implementing the President's "Department of Government Efficiency" (January 20, 2025)
  • Office of Management and Budget
    • President Trump’s Recommendations on Discretionary Funding Levels for Fiscal Year 2026. Letter from Russell T. Vought, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, to Susan Collins, the Chair of the Committee on Appropriations for the U.S. Senate. Attachment to the letter includes a table of major discretionary funding changes. (May 2, 2025)
  • Legal Advice at Rice: Office of General Counsel
    • Attorneys
    • Email
  • Immigration Enforcement
    • Rice Guidance

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  Federal Agency Directives and Related Resources

  This list of federal agency directives will be updated on a daily basis.

  U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
  • Executive Order Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid (January 24, 2025)
  U.S. Department of Education (ED)
  • U.S. Department of Education Takes Action to Eliminate DEI (January 23, 2025)
  U.S. Department of Defense (DOD)
  • Memorandum for Commander, United States Cyber Command: Class deviation—Restoring merit-based opportunity in federal contracts (Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, March 4, 2025)
  U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
  • PF 2025-16 Rescission of DEI, CBP, and Justice40 policy flashes, acquisition letters, and financial assistance letters (DOE Office of Management Policy Flash)
  • Mapping Out the Endgame for FY25 Appropriations(February 13, 2025)
  • Cease All Activities Associated with DEI and CBP (January 27, 2025)
  • PF 2025-16 Rescission of DEI, CBP, and Justice40 Policy Flashes, Acquision Letters, and Financial Assistance Letters
  • Agency-wide Review of Program and Administrative Activities (January 20, 2025)
  U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)
  • Fiscal year 2025 open notices of funding opportunities (DOJ Office on Violence Against Women, updated February 6, 2025)
  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
  • Immediate Pause on Issuing Documents and Public Communications—Action (January 21, 2025)
    • National Institutes of Health (NIH)
      • NIH Notice NOT-OD-25-104: Updated NIH Policy on Foreign Subawards (May 1, 2025).
      • NIH Notice NOT-OD-25-101: Revision: Notice of Updated Effective Date for the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy (April 30, 2025).
      • NIH Notice NOT-OD-25-090: Notice of Civil Rights Term and Condition of Award (NIH, April 21).
      • PI Order (March 5, 2025)
  U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)
  • Immediate Implementation of Executive Orders "Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing" and "Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity" (January 22, 2025)
  U.S. Department of Transportation
  • DOT order links federal transportation funds to marriage and birth rates (Wiley, February 7, 2025)
  National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
  • Memorandum for NASA grantee community: Guidance regarding OMB Memorandum M-25-14 and recent temporary restraining orders (NASA, February 11, 2025)
  • Memorandum for NASA contractor and grantee community: Initial guidance regarding defending women from gender ideology extremism and restoring biological truth to the federal government executive order (NASA, February 6, 2025)
  • Memorandum for NASA contractor and grantee community: Initial guidance regarding diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility (DEIA) executive orders (NASA, January 23, 2025)
  • Amendment 109: Removing DEIA requirements from ROSES-2024 (ROSES-24 Blog, January 20, 2025)
  • Initial Guidance Regarding Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Executive Orders (January 21, 2025)
  • Amendment 109: Removing DEIA Requirements from ROSES-2024 (January 20, 2025)
  National Science Foundation (NSF)
  • Updates on NSF Priorities (Last updated May 23, 2025.)
    • Statement of NSF Priorities
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Submit Your Questions
  • NSF Implementation of Recent Executive Orders (Last updated May 23, 2025.)
    • Updates on NSF Priorities
    • Information for Panelists and Reviewers
    • Information for Proposers
    • Information for NSF Awardees
    • Submit Your Questions
    • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Policy Notice NSF 25-034: Implementation of Standard 15% Indirect Cost Rate (Issuance Date: May 2, 2025; Effective Date: May 5, 2025.)
  • Statement by Director Sethuraman Panchanathan on His Departure (NSF News, Sethuraman Panchanathan)
  • Preliminary Injunction Order: Washington v. Trump (March 5, 2025) [A Federal Court issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting certain actions related to Executive Orders 14187 and 14168, which is effective immediately. The Order prevents NSF employees from withholding federal funding because a health care entity or health professional provides gender-affirming care. The Court’s Order also prevents NSF from implementing the requirements contained in Sections 3(e) and 3(g) of Executive Order 14,168, Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government. Pursuant to the Court’s directive this notice is being provided “to all Defendants, and agencies and their employees, contractors and grantees.”
  • NSF Implementation of Recent Executive Orders (Page last updated March 7, 2025.) [Provides information regarding recent executive orders and their impact on the U.S. National Science Foundation community. Flags new Q&As.]
    • Note: If you have questions about NSF's implementation of recent Executive Orders, you can submit your questions through this webform.
  • NSF Implementation of recent executive orders and FAQs (NSF, February 21, 2025)
  • Federal Court issued a Temporary Restraining Order directing federal grant-making agencies, including NSF, “...not pause, freeze, impede, block, cancel, or terminate... awards and obligations to provide federal financial assistance to the States, and... not impede the States’ access to such awards and obligations, except on the basis of the applicable authorizing statutes, regulations, and terms. Although the language of the TRO is directed at State institutions, the Department of Justice has determined that it applies to all NSF award recipients. You can review the TRO here.
  • Notice of Court Order (temporary restraining order; January 31, 2025)
  • NSF Implementation of Recent Executive Orders (January 29, 2025)
  • Message to the Principal Investigator Community (January 28, 2025)

Resources and Trackers

• How Trump 2.0 is Slashing NIH-backed Research—in Charts: Nature analyses which fields of science and US states are being hit hardest by grant terminations. (Max Kozlov and Chris Ryan, Nature)
• Tracking Trump’s Actions on Student Visas (Alissa Gary and Nell Gluckman, Chronicle of Higher Education, April 24, 2025)
• Tracking Trump’s Higher-Ed Agenda: The federal government is reshaping its relationship with the nation’s colleges. Here’s the latest. [Currently tracking civil rights, immigration, policy, and research.] (Chronicle of Higher Education Staff, April 22, 2025)
• Tracking Higher Ed’s Dismantling of DEI (Erin Gretzinger, Maggie Hicks, Christa Dutton, and Jasper Smith, Chronicle of Higher Education, April 22, 2025)
• DEI Legislation Tracker: Explore where college diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts are under attach. (Chronicle Staff, Chronicle of Higher Education, April 18, 2025)
• These Colleges Have the Most to Lose from Trump’s Cuts: Is yours among them? Phillip Levine, Chronicle of Higher Education, April 10, 2025.
• Tracking the lawsuits against Trump’s agenda (Alex Lemonides, Seamus Hughes, Mattathias Schwartz, and Lazaro Gamio, New York Times, Updated March 25, 2025)
• What we know about cuts to the federal work force (Elena Shao and Ashley Wu, New York Times, March 28, 2025)
• Resources for researchers and scholars under threat in the United States, U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Committee on Human Rights. Provides a list of resources for researchers and scholars who have been targeted in connection with their professional work. These include the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund (CSLDF), the Government Accountability Project (GAP), the Asian-American Justice Center (AAJC), the Asian-American Scholar Forum (AASF).
• Six weeks of “flood the zone” (interactive) (Daniel Wolfe and Chris Alcantara, Washington Post, March 4, 2025)

Relevant Webinars

• When available, relevant webinars will be posted here.

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Recent Articles

May 30, 2025

• Scientific Community Fears for Future of STEM Workforce Amid NSF Overhaul (Kathryn Palmer, Inside Higher Ed)
• NIH grant cuts will axe clinical trials abroad — and could leave thousands without care (Max Kozlov, Nature)
• New HHS document details deep NIH cuts as part of Trump budget request (Jonathan Wosen and Daniel Payne, STAT)

May 29, 2025

• For Fulbright Applicants, a DEI Disqualifier (Liam Knox, Inside Higher Ed)
• Harvard Wins Initial Court Fight to Keep Its International Students (Stephanie Saul, Sarah Mervosh and Michael C. Bender, The New York Times)

May 28, 2025

• Colleges Across the U.S. Fear Chill on Enrollments of Foreign Students (Karin Fischer, The Chronicle of Higher Education)
• State Dept. Will Vet Student Visa Applicants' Social Media (Johanna Alonso, Inside Higher Ed)
• Trump's call for 'gold-standard science' has prompted an outcry: here's why (Jeff Tollefson and Dan Garisto, Nature)

May 27, 2025

• Trump planning to sever remaining federal contracts with Harvard (Filip Timotija, The Hill)
• Reconciliation Bill Would Block Access to Higher Ed, ACE Leader Warns (Sara Custer, Inside Higher Ed)
• Trump team pauses new student visa interviews as it weighs expanding social media vetting (Nahal Toosi, Politico)

May 26, 2025

• Trump says he’s considering giving $3B of Harvard grant money to trade schools (Filip Timotija, The Hill)
• Hong Kong universities woo Harvard international students targeted by Trump (Smriti Mallapaty, Nature)

May 23, 2025

• As the Nation’s Research-Funding Model Ruptures, Private Money Becomes a Band-Aid (Maddie Khaw, The Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Judge temporarily blocks Trump administration’s foreign students ban at Harvard (Zach Schonfeld and Lexi Lonas Cochran, The Hill)
• Harvard researchers devastated as Trump team cuts nearly 1,000 grants (Dan Garisto, Nature)
• Trump Seeks Extensive Student Data in Pressure Campaign to Control Harvard (Michael C. Bender, The New York Times)
• Reeling from Trump contract cuts, the National Academies prepares for ‘a fairly radical downsizing’ (Megan Molteni, STAT)

May 22, 2025

• Republicans' Plan to Tax Higher Ed and Slash Funding Advances in Congress (Francie Diep, The Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Trump Administration Revokes Harvard's Ability to Enroll International Students (Karin Fischer, The Chronicle of Higher Education)

May 21, 2025

• An NIH Grant Is Restored, With a Catch: Cut a Study on Trans Youth (Stephanie M. Lee, The Chronicle of Higher Education)
• NSF Cuts Off Colleges That Push 'Illegal DEI,' Boycott Israel (Ryan Quinn, Inside Higher Ed)
• NIH killed grants on orders from Elon Musk's DOGE (Max Kozlov, Nature)

May 20, 2025

• DOJ targeting DEI campus initiatives under fraud law (Lexi Lonas Cochran, The Hill)

May 19, 2025

• Justice Department Establishes Civil Rights Fraud Initiative (DOJ, Office of Public Affairs)
• Nearly a Third of Harvard's Federal Funds Have Been Cut (Susan H. Greenberg, Inside Higher Ed)
• Exclusive: NIH grant rejections have more than doubled amid Trump chaos (Smriti Mallapaty, Nature)
• Trump's science adviser calls for return to 'gold-standard' research to kickstart stalled advances (Jonathan Wosen, STAT)

May 1, 2025

• Exclusive: NSF Stops Awarding New Grants and Funding Existing Ones: US Science funder also plans to screen grant applications for compliance with “agency priorities.” (Dan Garisto, Nature).
• ACLS, AHA, and MLA File Lawsuit Alleging Illegal Dismantling of National Endowment for the Humanities: Lawsuit aims to reinstate NEH grant programs, divisions, and staff (ACLS Press Release).

April Articles

April 2025

• Defending the Hidden Figures: A rebuttal of Erroneous Attacks on Merit-Based, Fair, and Competitive STEM Grants. Minority Staff Report. Prepared for Members of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. (U.S. House of Representatives, April 2025)

April 30, 2025

• Exclusive: NIH to End Billions of Dollars in Foreign Research Grants: Move by US biomedical agency jeopardizes thousands of projects on infectious diseases, cancer and more.

April 29, 2025

• NIH to Prioritize Human-Based Research Technologies: New initiative aims to reduce use of animals in NIH-funded research. (NIH News Release)
• Will US Science Survive Trump 2.0? President Donald Trump and his administration have gutted science agencies, terminated research programmes and cancelled billions of dollars in grants to universities. What are the long-term impacts for the United States and the world? (Jeff Tollefson, Dan Garisto, and Heidi Ledford, Nature).

April 25, 2025

• Hundreds More NSF Grants Terminated after Agency Director Resigns: Sethuraman Panchanathan abruptly leaves helm of US funding agency after Elon Musk’s DOGE arrives. (Dan Garisto, Nature).

April 24, 2025

• Exclusive: NSF Director to Resign Amid Grant Terminations, Job Cuts, and Controversy: “I have done all I can,” says Sethuraman Panchanathan, a Trump appointee who has led agency since 2020. (Jeffrey Mervis, ScienceInsider)
• Vaccine experts band together to counter U.S. government misinformation. Vaccine Integrity Project intends to provide scientific responses to ill-founded vaccine moves. (Meredith Wadman, ScienceInsider)
• Researcher of 1918 Flu Virus Takes over NIAID.\: Jeffery Taubenberger becomes acting director of NIH’s second largest institute. (Jon Cohen, ScienceInsider)
• Student-Visa War ‘Should Shock and Terrify’: An immigration lawyer says the Trump administration has trampled on free speech, but that “there’s still time to stand up.” (Jack Stripling, Chronicle of Higher Education)

April 23, 2025

• In China, trade war with U.S. taking a toll on research labs: Scientists face higher prices and import bans on equipment and supplies. (Richard Stone, ScienceInsider)
• Trump’s Executive Order Bashes Accreditors, Blames DEI for Low Standards and Poor Outcomes (Eric Kelderman, Chronicle of Higher Education)

April 22, 2025

• NIH Guts Its First and Largest Study Centered on Women: The Women’s Health Initiative has produced numerous influential findings.
• In Killing Grants, NSF Appears to Follow Ted Cruz’s Blueprint: Senator’s report targeted up to $2 billion for diversity, climate change, and misinformation research. (Jeffrey Mervis, ScienceInsider)
• More Than 200 Higher-Ed Leaders Decry Trump Administration’s ‘Unprecedented Government Overreach’ (Megan Zahneis, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Colleges Must Eliminate DEI Programs to Receive Research Funding, NIH Says (Maya Stahl, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• The University Is a Hostage. But There’s Hope: Where can we go from here? (Arjun Appadurai, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Trump’s China Policy Is a Disaster for Higher Education: The administration is alienating international students and imposing a tax on knowledge. (Yi Lu, Chronicle of Higher Education)

April 21, 2025

• New NIH Director Defends Grant Cuts as Part of Shift to Support MAHA Vision. In his first public remarks, Bhattacharya emphasizes his overall support for agency. (Jocelyn Kaiser, ScienceInsider)
• EPA Orders Staff to Begin Canceling Research Grants. Agency targets programs that award up to $40 million annually. (Erik Stokstad, ScienceInsider)
• We Haven’t Seen a Fight Like Harvard vs. Trump in Centuries: This is the most important showdown between state and academe since 1816. (Steven Brint, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Higher Ed Brought This on Itself: The university made itself a target by embracing affirmative action. (Richard D. Kahlenberg, Chronicle of Higher Education)

April 18, 2025

• NSF Starts to Kill Grants That Violate Trump’s War on Diversity Efforts. Attracting women and minorities into science and studying misinformation are no longer priorities, agency says. (Jeffrey Mervis, ScienceInsider)
• Trump Swings Budget Ax at USGS Biology Research. Plan to eliminate $307 million ecosystem program could face obstacles in Congress. (Erik Stokstad, ScienceInsider)
• NIH Halts More Collaborations with South Africa on HIV/AIDS Trials: International networks told not to start new studies or enroll new trial participants in the country. (Jon Cohen, ScienceInsider)
• NIH freezes funds to Harvard and four other universities, but can’t tell them: Move follows broader White House attack on Harvard funding and stop-work orders to contractors (Sara Reardon, ScienceInsider)
• Trump administration targets academic journals with attorney letter, proposed funding cuts: Budget plan would kill two CDC journals, while U.S. prosecutor accuses some nongovernmental publications of being “partisans” (Catherine Offord, ScienceInsider)
• NSF halts project to improve radar on hurricane hunters: Technical problems and budget squeeze combine to derail $92 million phased array (Jeffrey Mervis, ScienceInsider)
• U.S. climate data websites go dark: Lapse may be temporary, but draft budget plans would eliminate service (Warren Cornwall, ScienceInsider)

April 17, 2025

• Trump Proposes Massive NIH Budget Cut and Reorganization. Will Republican-led Congress support a 44% decrease for world’s largest medical research funder? (Meredith Wadman, ScienceInsider)
• Trump proposes massive NIH budget cut and reorganization: Will Republican-led Congress support a 44% decrease for world’s largest medical research funder? (Meredith Wadman, ScienceInsider)

April 16, 2025

• Exclusive: Internal Budget Document Reveals Extent of Trump’s Proposed Health Cuts: HHS would be asked to absorb a $40 billion cut, about one-third of its discretionary budget. (Lena H. Sun, Carolyn Y. Johnson, Rachel Roubein, Joel Achenbach, and Lauren Weber, Washington Post).
• Can Colleges Survive Trump’s Cuts? There are a handful of viable financial strategies. They all have downsides. (Robert Kelchen, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Harvard Had No Choice: Giving in to the administration’s demands would have been ruinous. (Michael C. Dorf, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• NSF halts grant awards while staff do second review: Action comes after DOGE team arrives at science agency (Jeffrey Mervis, ScienceInsider)
• For economists, Trump’s trade war offers a rare opportunity to study tariffs: Chance to test trade theories might be “the only silver lining” in chaotic policies, one says (Dan Charles, ScienceInsider)

April 15, 2025

• The GOP Loves Western Civ: Fed up with what they see as illiberalism in higher ed, conservatives are pushing for centers devoted to classics and American civics. (Jack Stripling, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• CDC team that updated go-to physician reference on contraceptive science is fired: Scientists combed the literature, synthesizing evidence of safety for busy providers (Meredith Wadman, ScienceInsider)
• NSF scraps most outside advisory panels: Science agency will no longer get the community’s advice on programs ranging from biology to international activities (Jeffrey Mervis, ScienceInsider)
• International students in the U.S. are reeling amid revoked visas and terminated records: The moves also affect a temporary work program heavily used by STEM graduates (Alexa Robles-Gil, ScienceInsider)

April 14, 2025

• These Faculty Senates Are Trying to Band Together to Stand Up to Trump (Megan Zahneis, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Trump throws wrench into NSF’s support for new Texas supercomputer: Spending fight with Congress could force NSF to pull plug on fastest university-based machine (Jeffrey Mervis, ScienceInsider)

April 11, 2025

• Energy Department cuts university overhead rates to 15% on research grants: Sudden move mirrors NIH cap on “indirect” costs that was ruled illegal (Jeffrey Mervis, ScienceInsider)
• Chief of NIH’s international center is latest director to lose job under Trump: Kathleen Neuzil had led the Fogarty International Center for less than 1 year (Jon Cohen, ScienceInsider)
• Sexual orientation, gender options cut from U.S. Ph.D. graduate survey: After adding questions to a key survey last year, the U.S. National Science Foundation is reversing course (Katie Langin, ScienceInsider)
• After Trump grant cuts, some universities give researchers a lifeline: “Bridge” programs are temporary help, officials say, but no substitute for sustained federal funding (Jeffrey Mervis, ScienceInsider)
• Trump seeks to end climate research at premier U.S. climate agency: White House aims to end NOAA’s research office; NASA also targeted (Paul Voosen, ScienceInsider)

April 10, 2025

• Appeasing Trump Is Not the Answer: It won’t work, and it violates the spirit of free inquiry. Dhananjay Jagannathan, Chronicle of Higher Education
• Researchers from China and five other ‘countries of concern’ barred from NIH databases: Trump administration escalates efforts to keep sensitive data from foreign adversaries (Richard Stone, ScienceInsider)
• CDC firings gut research on traumatic brain injuries: Last week’s mass layoffs removed small team studying concussions (Meredity Wadman, ScienceInsider)

April 9, 2025

• Exclusive: NIH freezes all research grants to Columbia University: Amid negotiations with Trump, the university could risk losing nearly $700 million (Sara Reardon, ScienceInsider)
• Trump administration fires staff for flagship U.S. climate assessment: Move could open the door to using high-profile report to attack climate science (Paul Voosen, ScienceInsider)
• After April Fools’ Day purge, U.S. health agencies spiral into chaos: “Outrageous” cuts claim leaders of five NIH institutes, as well as offices throughout FDA and CDC (Jocelyn Kaiser, ScienceInsider)

April 8, 2025

• HHS firings could face legal challenges over inaccuracies, process used to make cuts (Isabella Cueto, STAT)
• NSF slashes graduate fellowship program: The “life-changing” fellowship will go to 1000 fewer students this year (Jeffrey Mervis, ScienceInsider)
• Trump has blown a massive hole in global health funding—and no one can fill it: Other countries, foundations, international groups are unable to replace billions lost in U.S. cuts (Ida Jooste, ScienceInsider)

April 3, 2025

• Gutting DEI Won’t Save Us: Only a coordinated defense can blunt the Trump administration’s illegitimate coercion. (Richard Thompson Ford, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• As Trump Freezes Billions in Funding, Harvard Steels Itself for a Fight (Megan Zahneis, Sarah Brown, Kate Hidalgo Bellows, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Trump administration quashes NIH scientific integrity policy (Phie Jacobs, Science Insider)
• After ‘coding error’ triggers firings, top NIH scientists called back to work: Neuroscience institutes tells 10 scientists placed on leave it’s working on a “long-term” solution to officially reinstating them (Sara Reardon, ScienceInsider)
• NIH under orders to cancel $2.6 billion in contracts: Mandate has set off a scramble to find places to trim awards that support much of the biomedical agency’s work (Jocelyn Kaiser, ScienceInsider)

April 2, 2025

• Lawsuit aims to overturn many NIH grant terminations: Multiple groups and NIH-funded scientists challenge agency’s decision as arbitrary and capricious (Sara Reardon, ScienceInsider)

April 1, 2025

• A Brain Drain Would Impoverish the United States and Diminish World Science: Europe is advertising itself as a destination for embattled US scientists. It seems many are considering leaving. (Editorial, Nature).
• Trump administration purges U.S. health agency leaders: Reassignment letters come as reductions in force begin at NIH, FDA, and CDC (Jocelyn Kaiser, ScienceInsider)
• Warner, Wyden, Sanders and Schumer lead Senate colleagues demanding answers on layoffs bringing harm to Americans’ health and well-being (United States Senate Committee on Finance)

March Articles

March 31, 2025

• Public statement on supporting science for the benefit of all citizens (2,000 signatories, National Academies)
• Are terminations of NIH grants wasting billions of taxpayer dollars? DOGE argues killing grants saves money, but a Science analysis suggests more than $1.4 billion in sunk research costs may produce few results (Sara Reardon, ScienceInsider)
• NSF has awarded almost 50% fewer grants since Trump took office: The reasons aren’t clear—and the agency’s director claims the president’s policies haven’t slowed grant awards (Jeffrey Mervis, ScienceInsider)
• HHS, ED, and GSA Initiate Federal Contract and Grant Review of Harvard University (Press Release, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
• Colleges face a prisoner’s dilemma (David Asch, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Freedom is suspended on college campuses (Len Gutkin, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• How federal law could hinder Trump’s plans to dismantle the Education Dept. (Jessica Blake, Inside Higher Ed)
• Report: 6 in 10 LGBTQ Texas students said they were negatively impacted by DEI ban (Johanna Alonso, Inside Higher Ed)

March 29, 2025

• How colleges are cracking down on students now (Isabelle Taft, New York Times)
• Targeting of Tufts student for deportation stuns friends and teachers (Anemona Hartocollis, New York Times)

March 28, 2025

• HHS emergency response unit given two days to figure out its fate: Restructuring will include merging BARDA with Biden-founded ARPA-H (Sarah Owermohle, STAT)
• As NIH pulls funding, scientist worries about ‘frightening implications’ (Kathryn Palmer, Inside Higher Ed)
• Trump administration revokes 300 student visas (Liam Knox, Inside Higher Ed)
• Rubio says he has revoked 300 or more visas in Trump’s deportation push (Edward Wong, New York Times)
• Leaders of Harvard’s Middle Eastern Studies Center will leave (Vimal Patel, New York Times)
• Trump administration wants ‘AI dominance’ but lays siege to key grant agency (Taylor Swaak, Chronical of Higher Education)
• DOJ admissions probe targets California colleges (Liam Knox, Inside Higher Ed)
• Rector: Recruiting U.S. scholars can protect ‘threatened research’ (Emily Dixon for Times Higher Education)
• University of Michigan axes DEI (Johanna Alonso, Inside Higher Ed)

March 27, 2025

• Confusion and worry as DOGE cuts hit NASA: Terminated grants include efforts to get students and underrepresented groups involved in science (Hannah Richter, ScienceInsider)
• Tech executive confirmed to lead White House science office with bipartisan support: Research advocates hope Michael Kratsios will defend federally funded research against Trump onslaught (Jeffrey Mevis, ScienceInsider)
• 10,000 federal health workers to be laid off (Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Christina Jewett, New York Times)
• Under pressure, Psychology Accreditation Board suspends diversity standards (Ellen Barry, New York Times)
• What we know about the detentions of student protesters (Kate Selig, New York Times)

March 26, 2025

• Trump officials will screen NIH funding opportunities: Staff at biomedical agency worry about political interference in setting priorities (Sara Reardon, ScienceInsider)
• Trump’s new CDC pick ‘has her work cut out for her’: Susan Monarez, an expert in biosecurity and infectious disease, strikes some as a sensible choice to head the health agency—but some staffers there have raised concerns (Phie Jacobs, Science Insider)
• Child malnutrition set to soar as U.S. and other countries slash foreign aid: Deep funding cuts could deprive millions of treatment and cause more than 350,000 extra deaths per year, report predicts (Catherine Offord, ScienceInsider)
• H.H.S. scraps studies of vaccines and treatments for future pandemics (Carl Zimmer and Apoorva Mandavilli, New York Times)
• Trump administration abruptly cuts billions from state health services (Apoorva Mandavilli, Margo Sanger Katz, and Jan Hoffman, New York Times)
• Banning DEI is catastrophic for U.S. science (Joseph L. Graves, Jr., Stacy C. Farina, Parvin Shahrestani, Vaughn S. Cooper, and Gilda A. Barabino, Inside Higher Ed)
• Penn pledges to ‘address’ $175M federal funding cut (Katherine Knott, Inside Higher Ed)

March 25, 2025

• Trump cuts damage global efforts to track diseases, prevent outbreaks: Disease surveillance programs worldwide are suddenly in limbo (Jon Cohen, ScienceInsider)
• “It is remarkable how quickly the chill has descended” (Evan Goldstein and Len Gutkin, Chronicle of Higher Education)

March 24, 2025

• Columbia capitulated — But so did the rest of higher ed (Brian Rosenberg, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• How an accreditation war could start (Robert Shireman, Chronicle of Higher Education)

March 21, 2025

• Trump order could wipe out federal support for U.S. science museums: Institute of Museum and Library Services now run by Department of Labor as part of proposed dismantling (Jeffrey Mervis, ScienceInsider)
• ‘Orchestrated assault’: New tsunami of NIH grant cuts hits South Africa hard: Agency moves to terminate nearly 1000 awards, including programs involving “DEI” (Jon Cohen, Sara Reardon, ScienceInsider)
• Biomedical research takes hits in U.S. budget deal: Programs at NIH and Defense Department are pared back by bill that keeps funding at 2024 levels (Jocelyn Kaiser, Sara Reardon, ScienceInsider)
• Accreditation is Trump’s ‘secret weapon’: Here are three scenarios for how his attack on higher ed could play out. (Greg D. Pillar and Laurie Shanderson, Chronicle of Higher Education)

March 20, 2025

• Trump order threatens university libraries, museums (Kathryn Palmer, Inside Higher Ed)

March 18, 2025

• After Columbia’s ‘nightmare,’ dozens more universities brace for Trump NIH cuts: Threats to end funding over alleged antisemitism are rocking medical researchers—and stoking calls for legal action (Jocelyn Kaiser, ScienceInsider)
• A war on “woke” classes” (Jack Stripling, Chronicle of Higher Education)

March 17, 2025

• Overseas universities see opportunity in U.S. ‘brain drain’: But many U.S.-based scientists seeking to leave may struggle to find positions in countries grappling with funding issues of their own (Catherine Offord, ScienceInsider)
• DOGE order leads to journal cancellations by U.S. agricultural library: “We can’t do science without these,” one researcher says of the hundreds of journals no longer accessible (Jeffrey Brainard, ScienceInsider)
• DOGE cuts reach key nuclear scientists, bomb engineers and safety experts (Sharon LaFraniere, Minho Kim, and Julie Tate; New York Times)
• DOGE is making it harder to track extreme weather. What could go wrong? (Jonathan Mingle, New York Times)
• After CDC pick is abruptly yanked, worry over U.S. measles messaging remains (Rachel Roubein, Lauren Weber, Lena H. Sun and Fenit Nirappil; Washington Post)

March 16, 2025

• Scientists say NIH officials told them to scrub mRNA references on grants (Arthur Allen, KFF Health News)

March 14, 2025

• How a university fights an authoritarian regime (Michael Ignatieff, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Johns Hopkins to slash more than 2,000 jobs after losing $800 million in federal grants (Baltimore Sun Staff, Baltimore Sun)
• Can Trump force Columbia U. to expel student protesters? (Kate Hidalgo Bellows, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Trump's Acting NIH Director appoints himself as acting head of the office that controls external grant funding. So, that's fun. (Jeremy Faust, Inside Medicine)
• Fear spreads that NIH will terminate grants involving South Africa (Sara Reardon, Science Insider)

March 13, 2025

• Can NIH overturn a court order blocking it from slashing overhead payments? Unlikely, one expert says (Jeffrey Mervis, Science Insider)
• HHS braces for a reorganization (Ruth Reader, Chelsea Cirruzzo, and Adam Cancryn; Politico)
• Bioscience funding confusion threatens U.S. innovation (Steven Rosenbush, Wall Street Journal)
• NIH reinstates some of its early-career scientists (Jocelyn Kaiser, Science Insider)
• NCI-designated cancer centers worry about their future (Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today)

March 11, 2025

• ‘We’re in the midst of an Authoritarian Takeover’ (Evan Goldstein and Len Gutkin, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• The problem at the heart of Trump’s university crackdown (David Wallace-Wells, New York Times)
• More universities are choosing to stay neutral on the biggest issues (Vimal Patel, New York Times)
• Department of Education investigating 60 colleges and universities over antisemitism claims (Karina Tsui and Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN)
• The U.S. is trying to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a legal resident. Here’s what to know. (Minho Kim, New York Times)
• Trump’s call to scrap ‘horrible’ Chip program spreads panic (Tripp Mickle and Ana Swanson, New York Times)
• U.S.A.I.D. official orders employees to shred or burn classified and personnel records (Edward Wong, New York Times)
• Judge says Trump must pay past aid bills but can cancel future contracts (Annie Gowen and Justin Jouvenal, Washington Post)
• E.P.A. grant recipients find their funds frozen, with no explanation (Claire Brown, New York Times)
• Funding freeze leaves Fulbright and study-abroad scholars stranded (Olivia George, Washington Post)
• NASA terminates chief scientist role, closes policy office (Joey Roulette, Patrick Wingrove, and Andrea Shalal, Reuters)

March 10, 2025

• ‘America can’t be great without great science. That is where the Academies can help.’ [Interview with National Academy of Science President Marcia McNutt], (Molly Glavin, National Academies)
• U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights sends letters to 60 universities under investigation for antisemitic discrimination and harassment (Press Release, U.S. Department of Education)
• Colleges have no idea how to comply with Trump’s orders (Rose Horowitch, The Atlantic)
• Plans to hike the college-endowment tax are taking shape. They’re not what you’d expect. (Lee Gardner, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• The Trump administration is out for blood: And it won't stop at Columbia. (David A. Bell, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• NIH to ax grants on vaccine hesitancy (Sarah Reardon, Science Insider)
• NIH senior scientists faced with losing positions get 1-year extension (Jocelyn Kaiser, Science Insider)
• ICE arrest of Columbia student marks new era of campus politics (Douglas Belkin, Tarini Parti, and Allyssa Lukpat, The Wall Street Journal)
• Harvard pauses hiring amid ‘financial uncertainties’ under Trump (Mackenzie Wilkes, Politico)
• NIH to terminate or limit grants related to vaccine hesitancy and uptake (Carolyn Y. Johnson and Joel Achenbach, Washington Post)

March 9, 2025

• Trump's agenda is undermining American science (Dhruv Khullar, The New Yorker)
• These words are disappearing in the new Trump administration (Karen Yourish, Annie Daniel, Saurabh Datar, Isaac White, and Lazaro Gamino, New York Times)

March 7, 2025

• These words are disappearing in the new Trump administration (Karen Yourish, Annie Daniel, Saurabh Datar, Isaac White, and Lazaro Gamio, New York Times)
• 6 Trump trends to watch closely (Brock Read, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Is Title VI the new Title IX? (Kate Hidalgo Bellows, Chronicle of Higher Education
• Dismantling DEI on campus is messy. Here’s how it looks at one university. (Ira Porter, Christian Science Monitor)

March 6, 2025

• Rice University renames DEI office as Trump administration threatens funding (Samantha Ketterer, Houston Chronicle)
• NIH centralizes peer review to improve efficiency and strengthen integrity (NIH News Release)
• Trump’s CHIPS demand creates a $52 billion headache for Congress (Christine Mui, Politico)
• Hit by “gut punches,” scientists band together to protest Trump (Katrina Miller, New York Times)
• Trump puts new limits on Elon Musk (Dasha Burns and Kyle Cheney, Politico)
• The law everyone is suddenly turning to because of DOGE (Alfred Ng, Politico)
• Six Weeks of “Flood the Zone” (Interactive) (Daniel Wolfe and Chris Alcantara, Washington Post)
• A federal judge blocks a Trump funding freeze, saying the White House put itself ‘above Congress.’ (Zach Montague, New York Times)
• Judge: NIH rate cut likely ‘contrary to law’ (Katherine Knott, Inside Higher Ed)
• NIH nominee skirts questions on plan to cut indirect cost rates (Kathryn Palmer, Inside Higher Ed)
• Ed data goes dark: Why it matters (Robert Ubell, Inside Higher Ed)
• President Donald Trump does not plan to sign an executive order Thursday directing his education secretary take steps to close the Department of Education (Justine McDaniel, Washington Post)
• NEA sues Trump administration to block DEI guidance (Jessica Blake, Inside Higher Ed)
• Sen. Collins pushes back on Trump plan to abolish Education Department (Liz Goodwin, Washington Post)
• Draft executive order calls for closing Education Dept. (Laura Meckler, Washington Post)
• The diversity detective (Jasper Smith, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Trump's chilling effect on medical research (Post Reports Podcast, Washington Post)
• The F.D.A.’s new boss will face an age-old dilemma (Daniela J. Lamas, New York Times)
• How Makary might rein in or help Kennedy’s agenda (Chelsea Cirruzzo and Kelly Hooper, Politico)
• Trump’s FDA nominee, Marty Makary, faces his first test (Rachel Roubein, Washington Post)
• Trump officials, aid groups can’t agree on timing to restart global aid (Justin Jouvenal, Washington Post)
• If Musk wants to find waste, here’s where he should look (Karen Tumulty, Washington Post)
• Small federal agency blocks DOGE employees from entering its building (Brianna Tucker and Emily Davies, Washington Post)
• New NIH grant terminations target transgender studies—even in mice (Sarah Reardon, Science Insider)
• Tech leaders were on the outside looking in. Now they own Washington. (Elizabeth Dwoskin, Washington Post)
• Trump says he wants agencies to ‘keep good people’ but warns Musk will ‘be watching’ (Justine McDaniel, Washington Post)

March 5, 2025

• NIH reels with fear, uncertainty about future of scientific research (Carolyn Y. Johnson and Joel Achenbach, Washington Post)
• Judge issues preliminary injunction blocking Trump cuts to NIH research overhead payments (Jonathan Wosen, STAT News)
• On path to likely confirmation as NIH director, Bhattacharya toes the party line (Eric Boodman, STAT News)
• In Trump’s first weeks, dozens of colleges have shut down DEI efforts (Christa Dutton, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Trump’s Anti-DEI directives trample on freedom (Jeffrey Aaron Snyder, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• The NIH is canceling grants for research about trans people (Stephanie M. Lee, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Trump stresses transparency but releases little accurate data (Jessica Blake, Inside Higher Ed)

March 4, 2025

• Trump administration says Columbia U.’s federal funding at risk over protest response (Kate Hidalgo Bellows, Chronicle of Higher Education)

March 3, 2025

• When student protest goes too far: I’m the president of Barnard. This is my line in the sand. (Laura Ann Rosenbury, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• NIH terminates ongoing grants for LGBTQ+ research (Angus Chen, STAT News)Trump's opponents decry a sweeping crackdown on free speech (Naftali Bendavid, Washington Post)
• Hiring freezes, fewer grad students: Funding uncertainty hits colleges (Susan Svrluga, Washington Post)
• ED shares more details about DEI guidance (Katherine Knott, Inside Higher Ed)
• No one knows what will finally stop Trump. So Black leaders are trying everything. Perry Bacon, Jr., Washington Post)
• Government shutdown looms as Trump tries to asssert new spending powers (Jacob Bogage, Washington Post)
• How to support faculty during the chaos (Beth Mitchneck and Staphanie A. Goodwin, Inside Higher Ed)
• Researchers in "limbo" as Trump battles courts (Kathryn Palmer, Inside Higher Ed)
• "Let's not overreact": How one college's head of research is navigating uncertaingy under Trump (Megan Zahneis, Chronicle of Higher Education)

March 2, 2025

• New Ed. Dept. guidance on race and DEI tells colleges which programs it might consider illegal (Sarah Brown, Chronicle of Higher Education)

February Articles

February 28, 2025

• Trump tells agencies to plan for "large-scale reductions in force." (Jessica Blake, Inside Higher Ed)
• USAID cuts hit university research, including respected soubean labs (Johanna Alonso, Inside Higher Ed)
• Wary colleges scramble to meet DEI deadine (Liam Knox and Sara Weissman, Inside Higher Ed)
• As colleges face funding threat, accreditors offer flexibility (Josh Moody, Inside Higher Ed)
• Tracking higher ed's dismantling of DEI (Erin Gretzinger, Maggie Hicks, Christa Dutton, and Jasper Smith, Chronicle of Higher Education)

February 27, 2027

• DEI legislation tracker: Explore where college diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts are under attack. (Chronicle Staff, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Higher ed and the first 30 days of the Trump Adinistration: The Key (Sara Custer, Inside Higher Ed)
• Trump is targeting DEI in higher Ed. But what does he mean" (Ryan Quinn, Inside Higher Ed)
• New research questions DOGE claims about Education Department cuts (Sara Weissman, Inside Higher Ed)

February 26, 2025

• Musk isn’t DOGE’s chief. Who is Amy Gleason? (Victor Craw, Washington Post)
• The NSF's higher ed research "Hit List." (Kathryn Palmer, Inside Higher Ed)
• "There's tremendous foreboding": Four experts talk about Trump's first month—and what's to come (Evan Goldstein and Len Gutkin, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Lawsuit challenges Ed. Dept.'s authority to ban diversity programs, alter teaching on race (Jasper Smith, February 26, 2025)
• Teachers' union sues to block DEI Guidance (Jessica Blake, Inside Higher Ed)

February 25, 2025

• Injunction blocking parts of Trump's anti-DEI orders doesn't affect DEI guidance (Jessica Blake, Inside Higher Ed)
• D.C. federal judge extends ban on Trump OMB funding freeze (Spencer S. Hsu, Washington Post)
• Survey shows voters not keen to slash Educatoin Department funding (Susan H. Greenberg, Inside Higher ED)
• The DEI hills higher ed is willing to die on (Sara Weissman, Inside Higher Ed)
• Judge blocks DOGE from accessing student data (Liam Knox, Inside Higher Ed)
• What's next for higher ed under Trump? (Sarah Brown and Rick Seltzer, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Florida launches DOGE equivalent to audit state unmiversities (Josh Moody, Inside Higher Ed)
• Universities need to defend themselves, not remain neutral (Brian Rosenberg, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Colleges restrict graduate student admissions after NIH proposes rate cut (Katherine Knott, Inside Higher Ed)

February 24, 2025

• Federal judge blocks parts of Trump's anti-DEI orders (Katherine Knott, Inside Higher Ed)
• Education Dept. lifts pause on some civil rights investigations (Jessica Blake, Inside Higher Ed)
• As the VA celebrates 100 years of medical research, the very people doing that job are being fired (Patty Nieberg, Task & Purpose)

February 22, 2025

• ABA suspends DEI standards for accreditation (Josh Moody, Inside Higher Ed)

February 21, 2025

• The rise (and fall?) of the National Science Foundation (Carly Anne York, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• What are college presidents saying about Trump? Not much. (Josh Moody, Inside Higher Ed)
• A Dear Colleague Letter in defense of DEI (Shaun Harper, Inside Higher Ed)
• STEM accreditor drops DEIA from its standards (Josh Moody, Inside Higher Ed)
• Ahead of court hearing, chaos reigns at NIH (Kathryn Palmer, Inside Higher Ed)
• Judge extends block on NIH cuts (Kathryn Palmer, Inside Higher Ed)

February 20, 2025

• Despite a judge’s ruling, large swaths of NIH funding remain effectively frozen (Megan Zahneis, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Law schools decry Trump's defiance of courts (Kathryn Palmer, Inside Higher Ed)
• Higher ed unions rally against Trump's cuts (Katherine Knott, Inside Higher Ed)

February 19, 2025

• What college leaders are saying about Trump’s directive on race and DEI (Alissa Gary, Maddie Khaw, and Maya Stahl, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• There’s a big courtroom showdown over NIH’s ‘indirect costs’ this week. What are they? (Jeffrey Mervis, Science Insider)
• Ax falls on elite group of Ph.D.s training to lead U.S. public health labs (Meridith Wadman, Science Insider)
• Federal funding uncertainty prompts hiring freezes (Josh Moody, Inside Higher Ed)
• What college leaders are saying about Trump's directive on race and DEI (Allissa Gary, Maddie Khaw, and May Stahl (Chronicle of Higher Education)

February 18, 2025

• Trump’s agenda to hurt higher education (Kevin Carey, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Trump tracker: Latest news (Science News Staff, Science Insider)
• Tracking key lawsuits against the Trump administration (Jessica Blake and Katherine Knott, Inside Higher Ed)
• Mass firings decimate U.S. science agencies (John Travis, Katie Langin, Jocelyn Kaiser, Meridith Wadman, Science Insider)
• ‘I really wanted something to happen.’ The students behind the Stand Up for Science protests (Alexa Robles-Gil, Science Insider)
• Trump's agenda to hurt higher education (Kevin Carey, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Federal Register hold makes ‘end run’ around court pause on NIH funding freeze (Angie Voyles Askham, The Transmitter)
• Federal judge gives DOGE access to Education Department data (Jessica Blake, Inside Higher Ed)
• Ed. Dept.’s broad DEI warning puts college leaders in ‘enormously complicated situation’ (Jasper Smith, Chronicle of Higher Education)

February 16, 2025

• In sweeping letter, Ed. Dept. says SCOTUS ruling applies to all race-conscious programs (Eric Hoover, Chronicle of Higher Education)

February 15, 2025

• Ed Department: DEI violates civil rights law (Liam Knox, Insider Higher Ed)

February 14, 2025

• ‘Wrecking ball’: RFK Jr. moves to fire thousands of health agency employees (Meredith Wadman, Science Insider)

February 13, 2025

• Researchers face impossible decisions as U.S. aid freeze halts clinical trials (Catherine Offord, Science Insider)

February 12, 2025

• What you need to know as Linda McMahon goes before Congress (Alissa Gary, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Tracking the lawsuits against Trump's agenda (Alex Lemonides, Seamus Hughes, Mattathias Schwartz, and Lazaro Gamio, New York Times)
• Tracking Trump’s wins and losses in court cases over his executive orders (Justin Jouvenal and Ann E. Marimow, Washington Post)
• Tracking Trump’s executive actions (Curt Merrill and Amy O'Kruk, CNN)
• Top N.I.H. official abruptly resigns as Trump orders deep cuts (Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times)
• BREAKING: NIH admits funding freeze is illegal, will resume issuing grants (Judd Legum, Popular Information)
• $900 million in Institute of Education Sciences contracts axed (Ryan Quinn and Katherine Knott, Inside Higher Ed)

February 11, 2025

• Cruz-Led investigation uncovers $2 billion in woke DEI grants at NSF, releases full database (Press Release, U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation)
  • NOTE: Press release includes a link to the full database of DEI Grants from the National Science Foundation. The database delineates 3,483 NSF-funded projects with start dates between January 2021 and April 2024. Of these projects, 17 were awarded to Rice. The database categorizes what Ted Cruz, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, refers to in the Executive Summary of his report, DEI: Division, Extremism, Ideology: How the Biden-Harris NSF Politicized Science, as "questionable projects that promoted diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) tenets or pushed onto science neo-Marxist perspectives about enduring class struggle" (p. 1). According to this DEI report, "The Committee grouped these grants into five categories: Status, Social Justice, Gender, Race, and Environmental Justice" (p. 1).
  • You can find abstracts of all projects in the database on the Daily Wire website.
• Judge issues nationwide halt to controversial cap on NIH funding (Megan Zahneis, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Court pause on Trump cuts to medical research funds Is expanded nationwide (Christina Jewett and Teddy Rosenbluth, New York Times)
• A tenuous moment for minority-serving institutions under Trump (Sara Weissman, Inside Higher Ed)

February 10, 2025

• Trump’s declaration allows Musk’s efficiency team to skirt open records laws (Minho Kim, New York Times)
• What’s going to happen to science?’ (Mary Sue Coleman, Inside Higher Ed)
• Trump wants to cut billions in research spending. Here’s how much it might cost your university. (Dan Bauman, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• White House failed to comply with court order, judge rules (Mattathias Schwartz, New York Times)
• Judge halts NIH policy that could cost universities billions after 22 states sue to stop it (Megan Zahneis, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Judge temporarily blocks Trump cuts to medical research funding (Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Christina Jewett, New York Times)

February 8, 2025

• Is DOGE digging around in student data? (Liam Knox and Jessica Blake, Inside Higher Ed)
• NIH cuts billions of dollars in biomedical funding, effective immediately (Dan Diamond, Carolyn Y. Johnson, and Lena H. Sun, Washington Post)
• Trump threatened college research, culture and funding. Confusion reigns (Susan Svrluga and Danielle Douglas-Gabriel, Washington Post)
• NIH moves to slash funding for research, leaving universities on the hook (Katherine Knott and Kathryn Palmer, Inside Higher Ed)

February 7, 2025

• DEI legislation tracker (Chronicle Staff, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Tracking higher ed’s dismantling of DEI (Erin Gretzinger, Maggie Hicks, Christa Dutton, and Jasper Smith, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Billions of dollars are at stake under Trump’s funding freeze. What could that mean for your college? (Dan Bauman, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• A university system ends diversity-related gen-ed requirements, citing Trump order (Emma Pettit, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• ‘We’re being punished’: NIH tosses some grant applications from minority researchers (Maddie Khaw and Megan Zahneis, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Trump administration cuts put medical progress at risk, researchers say (Christina Jewett and Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times)
• NIH slashes overhead payments for research, sparking outrage (David Malakoff, Science Insider)
• Deep cuts to medical research funds could hobble university budgets (Christina Jewett, New York Times)
• NIH NOT-OD-25-068: Supplemental Guidance to the 2024 NIH Grants Policy Statement: Indirect Cost Rates
• ‘My boss was crying.’ NSF confronts potentially massive layoffs and budget cuts (Jeffrey Mervis, Science Insider)
• 'Unprecedented': White House moves to control science funding worry researchers (Jonathan Lambert, NPR)

February 6, 2025

• Higher ed is trapped in Trump’s chaos: Here’s how the sector can find its footing (Brendan Cantwell, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Trump policies sow chaos, confusion across scientific community (Joel Achenbach and Carolyn Y. Johnson, Washington Post)
• Elon Musk’s DOGE is feeding sensitive federal data into AI to target cuts (Hannah Natanson, Gerrit DeVynck, Elizabeth Dwoskin, and Danielle Douglas-Gabriel, Washington Post)
• Health agencies told to rank some workers as fear of layoffs grows (Dan Diamond, Lena H. Sun, and Emily Davies, Washington Post)
• Trump moves to shutter environmental offices across the government (Maxine Joselow and Amudalat Ajasa, Washington Post)
• Scientists on alert as NOAA restricts contact with foreign nationals (Scott Dance, Washington Post)
• NEA nixes grant program for ‘underserved communities,’ shifting priorities (Anne Branigin, Herb Scribner, Sophia Nguyen, and Kriston Capps, Washington Post)
• Federal judge: Trump ignoring rule of law for ‘political or personal gain’ (David Nakamura, Washington Post)
• College presidents’ survey finds alarm over Trump (Josh Moody, Insider Higher Education)
• As the DEI crackdown escalates, faculty choose between silence and resistance (Ryan Quinn, Inside Higher Education)
• Trump executive orders aimed at health equity, DEI worry Philadelphia health researchers (Sarah Gantz, Aubrey Whelan, Philadelphia Inquirer)

February 5, 2025

• Right-wing group publishes ‘D.E.I. Watch List’ targeting federal workers (David A. Fahrenthold, Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Sharon LaFraniere, and Christina Jewett, New York Times)
• Trump orders cause chaos at science agencies (Jeffrey Mervis, Science Insider)
• ‘It’s creating chaos’: College presidents weigh responses to Trump’s upheavals (David Jesse, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Trump’s immigration crackdown sparks panic, protests, and ICE impersonators (Alissa Gary and Maya Stahl, Chronicle of Higher Education)

February 4, 2025

• AAUP joins lawsuit to block Trump’s unlawful and unconstitutional DEI orders (AAUP)
• Science funding agency threatened with mass layoffs (Corbin Hiar, Politio)
• Higher Ed is trapped in Trump’s chaos (Brendan Cantwell, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• ‘Enough’: Campus diversity advocates sue over Trump’s anti-DEI orders (Katherine Mangan, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• NSF reexamines existing awards to comply with Trump’s directives (Jeffrey Mervis, Science Insider)
• Deaf federal workers face uncertain access following Trump’s DEIA orders (Amanda Morris, Washington Post)
• Trans health, research programs ordered to stop by Trump administration (Fenit Nirappil, Washington Post)
• Here are the words putting science in the crosshairs of Trump’s orders (Carolyn Y. Jonson, Scott Dance, and Joel Achenbach, Washington Post)
• 'So stupid!' Prof. shares government threat to halt scientific studies mentioning 'women' (David Edwards, RawStory)

February 3, 2025

• NIH eases freeze on grant reviews imposed after Trump communications pause (Jocelyn Kaiser, Science Insider)
• Trump orders disrupt academic research (Kathryn Palmer, Inside Higher Education)
• National Council of Nonprofits, et al., v. Office of Management and Budget: Temporary Restraining Order (U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia)
• Federal judge issues restraining order blocking federal spending freeze (Elena Moore, NPR)
• Trump administration to take steps to defund Education Department (Jeff Mason and Kanishka Singh, Reuters)
• Trump advisers weigh plan to dismantle Education Department (Matt Barnum, Liz Essley Whyte, and Ken Thomas, Wall Street Journal)
• Trump preps order to dismantle Education Dept. as DOGE probes data (Laura Meckler, Danielle Doughlas Gabriel, and Hanna Natanson, Washington Post)
• Trump order to dismantle the education department in the works, sources say (Arthur Jones II and Katherine Faulders, ABC News)
• Trump planning EO directing Education Department to ‘diminish itself,’ reports say (Jessica Blake, Inside Higher Ed)

February 2, 2025

• Musk says DOGE halting Treasury payments to US contractors (Gregory Korte and Viktoria Dendrinou, Bloomberg)
• Thousands of U.S. Government web pages have been taken down since Friday (Ethan Singer, New York Times)

January Articles

January 31, 2025

• A 2nd U.S. judge says Trump administration must pause its federal spending freeze (NPR Washington Desk, NPR)
• How 4 of Trump’s policy actions could impact higher education in 2025 (Natalie Schwartz, Laura Spitalniak, and Ben Unglesbee, Higher Ed Dive)
• Health Resources Vanish Following D.E.I. and Gender Orders (Roni Rabin and Apoorva Mandavilli, New York Times)
• Health agencies purge Trump-targeted programs and websites (Jocelyn Kaiser, Meredith Wadman, Science Insider)
• NSF Letter re: Federal Court issuing a Temporary Restraining Order (NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan)
• Notice of Court Order (John J. McConnel, Jr., Chief Judget, U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island
• National Science Foundation freezes payments in response to Trump's executive actions (Jonathan Lambert, NPR)

January 30, 2025

• EXCLUSIVE: NSF starts vetting all grants to comply with Trump’s orders (Jeffrey Mervis, Science Insider)
• The Trump executive orders and actions that are having immediate impacts (Washington Post Staff, Washington Post)
• White House regroups as funding freeze chaos recalls first term’s travel ban (Isaac Arnsdorf, Jacqueline Alemany, Natalie Allison, Liz Goodwin, and Jeff Stein, Washington Post)

January 29, 2025

• With a new home for DOGE in the White House, here's what you need to know (Stephen Fowler, NPR, All Things Considered)
• White House budget office rescinds federal funding freeze memo (Alexander Bolton, The Hill)
• Judge signals toward granting Dem challenge to OMB freeze after order rescinded (Zach Schonofeld, The Hill)
• Memorandum for heads of executive departments and agencies (Matthew J. Vaeth, Office of Management and Budget)
• Recent execute actions on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) (Congressional Research Service)
• Memorandum: Initial guidance regarding President Trump’s executive order Defending Women (Charles Ezell, United States Office of Personnel Management)
• White House eyes fight to expand Trump’s power to control spending (Tony Romm and Jeff Stein, Washington Post)
• NSF and NIH grant reviews still on hold after White House rescinds memo (Katherine Knott, Insider Higher Ed)
• Inside the chaotic rollout of Trump’s federal funding freeze (Joathan Swan and Zolan Kanno-Youngs, New York Times)
• Inside 45 hours of chaos: The brief life and quick death of Trump’s federal spending freeze
  (Jeremy Herb, Phil Mattingly, Jeff Zeleny, and Alayna Treene, CNN)
• Trump White House rescinds memo freezing federal money after widespread confusion
  (Chris Megerian, Zeke Miller, and Lisa Mascaro)
• Rescission of M-25-13 (OMB, January 29)
• Trump makes moves to expand his power, sparking chaos and a possible constitutional crisis (Nicholas Riccardi, AP)

January 28, 2025

• Which federal programs are under scrutiny? The Budget Office named 2,600 of them. (Upshot Staff, New York Times)
• Is your research on Trump’s spending hit list? (Jeffrey Mervis, Science Insider)
• Trump executive order puts STEM diversity efforts on hold (Virgina Gewin, Science Insider)
• Trump executive order would upend federal surveys that ask about gender identity (Jeffrey Mervis, Science Insider)
• Trump offering federal workers buyouts with about 8 months’ pay in effort to shrink government (Mark Sherman and Will Weissert, AP)
• ‘Institutional destruction': A federal-funding pause sent shockwaves through higher ed (Jasper Smith and David Jesse, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• The Impoundment Crisis of 2025 (Steve Vladeck, One First)
• NIH memo addresses ‘confusion’ about restrictions imposed by Trump, easing some concerns (Jocelyn Kaiser, Science Insider)

January 27, 2025

• Memorandum for All DOE funding agreements or awards: Cease all activities associated with DEI and CBP (U.S. Department of Energy)
• National Science Foundation freezes grant review in response to Trump executive orders (Jonathan Lambert, NPR)
• White House pauses all federal grants, sparking confusion (Jeff Stein, Jacob Bogage, and Emily Davies, Washington Post)
• Here’s what to know about Trump’s executive actions on climate and environment (Melina Walling, PBS News)

January 24, 2025

• As Trump freeze continues, NIH gets a temporary leader (Jon Cohen, Jocelyn Kaiser, Science Insider)
• Trump singled out these 130 colleges as possible targets for investigation. Is yours on the list? (Sarah Brown, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• The chaos in higher ed is only getting started (Ian Bogost, The Atlantic)
• Trump pause on foreign aid could threaten distribution of lifesaving drugs, experts say (Jon Cohen, Science Insider)
• Trump’s ban on funds to ‘promote gender ideology’ could threaten hundreds of NIH research projects (Science Insider)

January 23, 2025

• What DOGE actually is now (Derek Robertson, Politico)
• Against Anticipatory Obedience (AAUP)
• Here’s how science funding could change under Trump (Stephanie M. Lee, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Trump’s shutdown of federal diversity office at NSF breaks law that created it (Jeffrey Mervis, Science Insider)
• ‘Never seen anything like this’: Trump’s team halts NIH meetings and travel (Nature)

January 22, 2025

• The most chaotic new committee in Congress (Andrew Solender, Axios)
• Memorandum to the heads of departments and agencies: Guidance regarding Section 7 of the Executive Order Unleashing American Energy (White House)
• Trump hits NIH with ‘devastating’ freezes on meetings, travel, communications, and hiring (Meredith Wadman, Jocelyn Kaiser, Science Insider)
• Immediate Pause on issuing documents and public communications—Action (Dorothy A. Fink, MD, Acting Secretary, DHHA)
• How a Trump Executive Order could upend colleges’ hiring practices (Katherine Mangan, Chronicle of Higher Education)

January 21, 2025

• Memorandum: Initial guidance regarding DEIA executive orders (Charles Ezell, United States Office of Personnel Management)
• Memorandum to the heads of departments and agencies: Guidance regarding Section 7 of the Executive Order Unleashing American Energy (White House)
• Immediate Pause on issuing documents and public communications—Action (Dorothy A. Fink, MD, Acting Secretary, DHHA)
• Trump has issued a blitz of Executive Orders. Some could affect higher ed (Jasper Smith, Chronicle of Higher Education)

January 13, 2025

• How Trump could devastate our top colleges’ finances (Phillip Levine, Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Memorandum: Initial guidance regarding DEIA executive orders (Charles Ezell, United States Office of Personnel Management)
• Trump has issued a blitz of Executive Orders. Some could affect higher ed (Jasper Smith, Chronicle of Higher Education)

October 2024 Articles

October 9, 2024

• DEI: Division, Extremism, Ideology: How the Biden-Harris NSF Politicized Science (Senator Ted Cruz, Ranking Member of U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation)

U.S. Representatives and Senators

U.S. House of Representatives

• Representatives | house.gov

U.S. Senate

• U.S. Senate: Contacting U.S. Senators

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Faculty Guidance and FAQs

Guidance on pre-submission and pre-award activities

What should I do? Pre-submission and pre-award activities

• As proposal deadlines approach, regularly check program websites and funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) to obtain updates on whether the program is still accepting applications, issuing new announcements or amending existing announcements, and/or changing requirements and due dates. Doing so will help you ensure compliance with the latest guidelines.

• Be aware that award decisions may be delayed. Monitor program websites and FAQs for any news.

Guidance on existing awards

What should I do? Existing awards

• Continue working on your grants and contracts unless directly notified by the agency or the Office of Sponsored Research (OSP). Do not stop work based on rumors or internal agency guidance. Agencies must notify us of any changes to your funding once the contract is in place.
  
• Maintain contact with your program officers, but be aware that some may have paused communications.
  
• Monitor policy updates from the federal agency overseeing your grant for any changes in funding or compliance requirements. Refer to the Council on Governmental Relations (COGR) resource page linked below.
• If PIs or RAs receive any award modifications or other notices, forward them to OSP at osp@rice.edu as soon as possible for review and processing.

• Notify OSP at osp@rice.edu if you receive a "Stop Work" notice from a federal sponsor. A stop work order typically means all project work must cease immediately, and no expenses can be incurred from the effective date of the notice.
  
• Closely monitor obligated budget balances to avoid deficits while awaiting future obligations. Anticipated funding is subject to availability and should not be considered guaranteed.
  
• Continue to meet existing deadlines for technical reports and/or other deliverables.

Faculty questions and answers

Faculty questions and answers

Question 1: My NSF Career Award involves fundings for the Quantum REU program. I would like to know how this might be affected at this point. Shall I assume that I cannot use the funding to support Quantum REU students in the worst case scenario?

Answer: As of now, you may continue your federally-funded work unless and until you are specifically instructed otherwise.

Question 2: I’m submitting a proposal to NSF, and hope to get your advice on whether I should revise the following: "The PI will continue to commit to the promotion of diversity and the engagement of students from underrepresented groups."

Answer: Replace any content on DEI to "broadening participation" throughout the proposal.

Question 3: We have an NSF REU grant. The purpose of this grant is to bring students from underrepresented groups or those who do not have opportunity to perform undergraduate research to Rice for 10 weeks in the summer.

Answer: We have limited information but are currently encouraging faculty to proceed as usual. With that stated, we do not know if agencies will formally rescind specific programs and we may have to change course as more guidance is released over the next couple of weeks.

AAU FAQs about indirect costs

AAU's FAQs about facilities and administrative (F&A) costs of federally sponsored university research

The Association of American Universities (AAU) published these FAQs on F&A costs of federally sponsored university research on December 11, 2024.

Subsections include the following:

• Costs of research
  • See especially the Issue Brief on Facilitites & Administrative (F&A) Costs of Research, published February 7, 2025, and accompanying PDF download.
• Fact sheets
• Research administration and regulation

Immigration Enforcement

Note: The following FAQs are presented as a resource to the Rice University community, but are not intended to serve as personal legal advice. For legal advice, individuals should consult with a licensed attorney.

Can federal immigration agents come to the Rice campus and enter campus buildings and other university property?

If they have a judicial warrant (a warrant signed by a federal or state judge), yes. Otherwise, they must ask Rice’s permission to enter.

Sometimes, immigration agents try to use an “administrative warrant” to enter a private area. This is not the same as a judicial warrant; an administrative warrant does not allow agents to enter private property without Rice’s permission. Administrative warrants are not from a court. They say “Department of Homeland Security” and are on Forms I-200 or I-205.

Here’s why this matters: all of Rice’s campus is private property owned by Rice University. Like other private landowners, Rice can decide who is allowed to enter campus.

If federal immigration agents ask Rice’s permission to enter campus, will Rice give them permission?

The law requires Rice to allow federal immigration agents on campus to discuss immigration matters with university officials, including the Office of International Students & Scholars (OISS). Also, Rice will comply with judicial warrants or other state/federal court orders. Except in these cases, Rice does not allow federal immigration agents on campus.

What should Rice staff and faculty do if a federal immigration agent (or other law enforcement agent) asks for access to a residential college or other part of campus?

• Ask the agent for their name, identification number and agency affiliation (some agents are dressed in plain clothes),
• Explain that you are not obstructing their process but need to consult with the Rice University Police Department (RUPD) for assistance;
• Then, immediately call the RUPD at 713-348-6000 (or on campus, dial 6000).

In what situations can federal immigration agents enter residential colleges?

They may enter residential colleges only if they have a judicial warrant (a warrant signed by a federal or state judge) that allows them to enter specific areas of the Rice campus.

Will the RUPD work with federal immigration agents to apprehend and remove individuals from campus?

RUPD has no plans to independently enforce federal immigration law. However, it must comply with judicial warrants given to it by other law enforcement agencies.

Also, in the rare event that RUPD arrests a person (for other reasons) and receives an immigration detainer from ICE, RUPD is required by law to hold the person until an ICE agent has interviewed the person.

What happens if a federal immigration agent tries to enter a residential college room?

Without a judicial warrant, federal immigration agents need Rice’s permission to enter any part of campus, other than to meet with university officials. Rice will comply with judicial warrants or other state/federal court orders. Except in these cases, Rice does not allow federal immigration agents on campus.

If an immigration agent tries to enter a residential college, they can be told “This is a private area. You cannot enter without a judicial warrant signed by a judge. Do you have a judicial warrant? If you don’t, you need to speak with the Rice University Police Department (RUPD) for assistance.” Then, immediately call the RUPD at 713-348-6000 (or on campus, dial 6000).

Can federal immigration agents enter off-campus apartments?

Not unless (1) they have a judicial warrant or (2) the apartment’s tenant allows them to enter.

What should staff members do if a federal law enforcement officer asks for or presents a subpoena for personally identifiable private information or records about a student or employee?

Immediately refer and escort them to the Rice University Police Department, or call the RUPD at 713-348-6000 (or on campus, dial 6000).

If a federal immigration agent starts asking me questions, what do I do?

Remain calm and do not run away. You can speak with them, or be completely silent – it’s your choice. Under US law, you have a legal right to remain silent and do not have to discuss your immigration or citizenship status with police, immigration agents or any other officials. You also do not have to answer questions about where you were born, whether you are a U.S. citizen, or how you entered the country.

What happens if I am arrested?

If you are arrested by federal immigration agents, remain calm, do not resist, do not run away, and do not provide false documentation. You have the right to a government-appointed lawyer, and should ask for one immediately. You can also tell them: “I invoke my right to remain silent and do not consent to your search of me or my belongings.”

If you are detained by an immigration agent, you have the right to hire a lawyer, but the government does not have to provide a free one for you. Ask for a list of free or low-cost alternatives.

If you are detained for an immigration violation, you have the right to call a lawyer or your family, and you have the right to be visited by a lawyer in detention. You have the right to have your lawyer with you at any hearing before an immigration judge. You can prepare by memorizing phone numbers for your family and your lawyer. Remain silent and don’t sign anything until your lawyer is present.

This link provides a guide from the National Immigration Law Center on your rights if arrested or
detained: https://www.nilc.org/resources/know-your-rights-what-to-do-if-arrested-detained-immigration/

This link provides a guide from the ACLU on immigrant rights: https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/immigrants-rights

If I need a lawyer, how do I get one?

This link lists several Houston-area organizations that provide low-cost immigration legal services: https://www.accesshou.org/search/?service=legal&entity=program

In addition, Rice recommends the following Houston-area law firms, each of which have positive, recent experience navigating Rice faculty, students, and staff through difficult immigration matters:

Foster LLP: 713-229-8733, https://www.fosterglobal.com/services/individuals-and-families/

Andrew Gee of Gee & Zhang: 713-781-0071, https://www.gzimmigration.com/attorney/andrew-h-gee/

If I have other questions, who do I contact?

Rice’s Office of International Students & Scholars (OISS) is able to support all Rice visa sponsored international students and scholars. OISS can also provide resource referrals on a limited basis to non-Rice visa sponsored individuals and be a safe space to talk about the challenges and all international students and scholars experience.

OISS offers daily virtual and in-person walk-in advising opportunities. Students and scholars will be seen on a first-come, first-served basis, so please be prepared to wait in line or in a Zoom waiting room before you are seen.

For more information and the schedule, please see https://oiss.rice.edu/appointment.

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