1/8/26: House passes three-bill spending package with weeks left to avoid a shutdown (Politico) The House passed three government spending bills Thursday, inching Congress closer to funding federal operations ahead of the Jan. 30 deadline to avoid a shutdown. The measures would fund the departments of Energy, Commerce, Interior and Justice, as well as water programs, the EPA and federal science initiatives through the end of the current fiscal year. More than 75 percent of government programs still need to be funded. https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/08/house-passes-three-bill-spending-package-with-weeks-left-to-avoid-a-shutdown-00716935
1/7/26: Trump Wanted to Slash Scientific Research Funding. So Far, Congress Has Said No. (The Chronicle) Legislators have struck a deal on a trio of bipartisan appropriations bills — for the National Science Foundation, NASA, and the Department of Energy — that call for the agencies’ 2026 funding levels to remain relatively stable, Science reported . Under the bills, NSF would see a 3.4-percent budget cut and NASA a 1.1-percent decrease, as opposed to the 55-percent and 47-percent slashes recommended by the Trump administration last May. The Department of Energy’s Office of Science, meanwhile, stands to receive a 2-percent bump in its budget. Trump had sought a $1-billion reduction. https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/the-trump-agenda/trump-wanted-to-slash-scientific-research-funding-so-far-congress-has-said-no
See also: House, Senate lawmakers ignore requested Trump cuts at key science agencies (Fedscoop) https://fedscoop.com/house-senate-lawmakers-ignore-requested-trump-cuts-science-agencies/
1/7/26: Congresswoman Pushes Trump’s New Drug Czar To Back Full Marijuana Legalization And Follow ‘Science, Not Stigma’ (Marijuana Moment) A Democratic congresswoman is imploring President Donald Trump’s newly Senate-confirmed White House drug czar to follow the science and proactively support fully legalizing marijuana—going beyond the incremental cannabis rescheduling order the president recently signed. https://www.marijuanamoment.net/congresswoman-pushes-trumps-new-drug-czar-to-back-full-marijuana-legalization-and-follow-science-not-stigma/
1/6/26: How Universities Are Responding to Trump (New York Times) But as universities contend with Washington’s demands, the long-term result could remake higher education across the country. Billions in funds for research have been frozen, while administration officials have also tried to prevent universities from enrolling international students . The higher education industry has acknowledged shortcomings and failures, but university leaders have also warned that the federal government is trying to stamp out academic freedom, a cornerstone of the American education system. https://www.nytimes.com/article/trump-university-college.html
