Follow COGR on LinkedIn4/18/25Inside Higher Ed
Judge Blocks Energy Department Plan to Cap Indirect Cost Rates
A federal judge temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Energy’s plan to cap universities’ indirect research cost reimbursement rates, pending a hearing in the ongoing lawsuit filed by several higher education associations and universities
4/18/25Inside Higher Ed
What to Know About Trump’s Strategy Targeting Colleges’ Grants and Contracts
The cuts don’t follow any typical investigative process and sometimes lack clear explanations or legal justifications. And such an aggressive ad hoc strategy is one that that many higher education lawyers, policy analysts and administrators say could reshape postsecondary education for years to come
4/18/25Wall Street Journal
Trump Demands Harvard’s Foreign Funding Records
The administration has been concerned about foreign actors attempting to spy on researchers or spread propaganda within academic institutions.
4/17/25Washington Post
Trump’s freeze on $2.2 billion to Harvard provided no proof of wrongdoing
The Trump administration skipped over requirements, including offering to hold a hearing, when applying financial penalties related to civil rights violations
4/17/25Science
Trump proposes massive NIH budget cut and reorganization
The administration’s proposal , which was first reported by Inside Medicine and The Washington Post , would slash NIH’s budget by 44%, to $26.7 billion, in the 2026 fiscal year, which begins in October. It also calls for eliminating four of NIH’s institutes and centers, but leaves the agency’s cancer, aging, and infectious diseases institutes alone. The rest would be consolidated or relocated
The TransmitterSee also
See also: Proposed NIH budget cut threatens ‘massive destruction of American science’
4/17/25Science
Exclusive: Trump team freezes new NSF awards — and could soon axe hundreds of grants
All new research grants have been frozen at the US National Science Foundation (NSF) — an action apparently ordered by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an initiative by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk to cut spending and workers across the US government. DOGE is also now reviewing a list of active research grants assessed in February by the NSF for terms associated with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and considering more than 200 of them for termination, NSF staff members have told Nature.
4/17/25Reuters
Science caught in crossfire of Trump's fight with universities
While Trump and his advisers portray the freezes as a temporary measure employed to force Harvard to make policy changes and address antisemitism on campus, Ingber and other scientists see long-term negative impacts on a tradition of partnerships between the government and university researchers dating back to World War II that made the U.S. the most technologically powerful country on earth. Scientists say the damage is already aiding competitive rivals like China
4/17/25Washington Post
DOGE begins to freeze health-care payments for extra review
DOGE is putting new curbs on billions of dollars in federal grants, requiring officials to manually review and approve payments that were previously routine
4/17/25Science, Editorial
When state support for science fails
The establishment and growth of scientific communities require long-term planning, political backing, and social and economic support. In many Latin American countries, these entities have been repeatedly shaken by monetary catastrophes, political attacks, and the lack of national and regional developmental strategies that include science and technology. Such volatility has taken its toll on the region’s scientific enterprise, because science cannot advance under the vagaries of economic uncertainty, political violence, and unpredictable investment.
4/17/25Nature
‘Totally broken’: how Trump 2.0 has paralysed work at US science agencies
As the administration of President Donald Trump continues its campaign to reshape the US government with spending cuts and mass lay-offs , some scientists still employed at government agencies say that their work has become impossible
4/17/25The Chronicle
What Revoking Tax-Exempt Status Would Mean for Harvard — and the Rest of Higher Ed
Reports from CNN and The Washington Post both cite unnamed administration officials who confirmed that the Internal Revenue Service has been asked to consider if the university has violated any of the requirements of charitable organizations, such as engaging in political activity.
Inside Higher EdSee also
See also: Report: IRS Plans to Revoke Harvard’s Tax-Exempt Status
4/17/25Nature
Invasion of the ‘journal snatchers’: the firms that buy science publications and turn them rogue
Study finds dozens of journals that have hiked their fees and started churning out papers after being acquired by small, recently formed companies
4/16/25Federal News Network
Two EOs continue biggest overhaul of federal acquisition since 1990s
Trump yesterday signed the much-anticipated executive order that calls for the remaking of the FAR by including only those “provisions required by statute or essential to sound procurement, and any FAR provisions that do not advance these objectives should be removed.”
4/16/25Chemical & Engineering News
Scientists face deficiencies in leadership countering US policies
Science organizations are exploring new avenues and navigating multiple obstacles as they confront the Trump administration’s unprecedented actions.
4/16/25
Trump’s Threats Force Institutions to Choose: Cut a Deal or Fight Back (New York Times) https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/us/politics/trump-universities-law-firms-deals.html
Now the fight is out in the open. The guardrails are gone, in large part because Mr. Trump demands loyalty from everyone around him. With almost no opposing voices inside the White House, the president’s campaign against the institutions of government, society and law have been more intense and have played out faster than they did during his first term.
4/15/25Washington Post
Why Musk and Dorsey want to ‘delete all IP law’
It could all be dismissed as idle social media chatter if Musk didn’t have a track record of turning X posts into U.S. government policy via his prominent role in President Donald Trump’s administration, as our Washington Post colleagues recently explained . “The line between a random conversation on Twitter/X and actual government policy is thinner than it used to be,” TechCrunch’s Anthony Ha wrote .
4/15/25National Law Review
OMB RFI Seeks Proposals to Rescind or Replace Regulations
On April 11, 2025, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published a request for information to solicit ideas for deregulation. 90 Fed. Reg. 15481 . OMB seeks proposals to rescind or replace regulations “that stifle American businesses and American ingenuity,” including regulations “that are unnecessary, unlawful, unduly burdensome, or unsound.” According to the notice, “comments should address the background of the rule and the reasons for the proposed rescission, with particular attention to regulations that are inconsistent with statutory text or the Constitution, where costs exceed benefits, where the regulation is outdated or unnecessary, or where regulation is burdening American businesses in unforeseen ways.” Comments are due May 12, 2025