11/17/25: Judge: Trump Administration Can’t ‘Blanket’ Deny UC New Grants or Demand Payout (Inside Higher Ed) A judge ordered federal agencies Friday to end their “blanket policy of denying any future grants” to the University of California, Los Angeles, and further ruled that the Trump administration can’t seek payouts from any UC campus “in connection with any civil rights investigation” under Titles VI or IX of federal law. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/11/15/judge-trump-cant-blanket-deny-uc-grants-or-demand-payout
See also: Judge Blocks Trump’s Threats to Cut Funds to U. of California (The Chronicle) https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/the-trump-agenda/judge-blocks-trumps-threats-to-cut-funds-to-u-of-california
11/14/25: Interim Guidance on Reopening of NIH Extramural Activities (NIH NOT-OD-26-005) NIH is working to reestablish dates for grant and contract submissions, determine how to communicate details related to missed review meetings, reschedule dates for training, and other activities that were scheduled to occur during and immediately following the period of the government shutdown. https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-26-005.html
11/14/25: Is NIH cutting corners as it rushes to fill leadership positions? (Science) Unlike in the past, agency searches appear to exclude help from outside academic researchers. https://www.science.org/content/article/nih-cutting-corners-it-rushes-fill-leadership-positions
11/14/25: When the FAR gets a revolutionary overhaul and the government shuts down, who’s reading the fine print? (Federal News Network) The FAR Council eliminated a third of commercial contracting clauses, streamlined registration, and rewrote major acquisition rules in a summer; all released just before the shutdown. Now agencies are adopting the revolutionary FAR overhaul at different speeds, leaving contractors navigating a patchwork of new procedures while dealing with expiring contracts and furloughed contracting officers. https://federalnewsnetwork.com/acquisition-policy/2025/11/when-the-far-gets-a-revolutionary-overhaul-and-the-government-shuts-down-whos-reading-the-fine-print/
See also: FAR Part 27 Overhaul: Key Changes to Intellectual Property in Federal Contracting (JD Supra) https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/far-part-27-overhaul-key-changes-to-1596309/
11/13/25: Deal to end U.S. shutdown includes good news for farm science funding (Science) Thousands of scientists employed by the U.S. government began to get back to work today after the House of Representatives last night passed legislation that ended the record 43-day government shutdown. Disruptions caused by the closure are expected to linger at some major science agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH). But the package of bills also included some good news for agricultural scientists, as lawmakers largely rejected deep cuts to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) research programs requested by President Donald Trump . https://www.science.org/content/article/deal-end-u-s-shutdown-includes-good-news-farm-science-funding
