Fed Update: COGR News Digest

Council on Governmental Relations (COGR)

7/16/25Inside Higher Ed

  NIH to Dismiss New Advisory Council Members

According to Nature, the NIH is planning to dismiss dozens of scientists picked to serve on its advisory councils who were nominated during the Biden administration. NIH leaders are looking to fill those vacant seats with people who are aligned with the Trump administration’s priorities. Nature noted that the move will leave the councils understaffed and without key expertise to make the final funding decisions.

7/16/25Inside Higher Ed

  ED Launches Investigation Into Michigan’s Foreign Funding

The Department of Education has opened an investigation into the University of Michigan’s foreign funding after a review revealed alleged “inaccurate and incomplete disclosures,”  department officials  announced Tuesday.

7/16/25The Chronicle

  For Once, Public Confidence in Higher Ed Has Increased

For the first time in a decade, Americans grew more confident in higher ed,  according to  a Lumina Foundation-Gallup education survey conducted in June.

7/16/25Inside Higher Ed

  What Happened to the Smaller Agencies Trump Tried to Shutter?

Helped by then-ally Elon Musk and his novel Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, Trump laid off thousands of employees and cut off millions of dollars in grant funding. Some of those on the chopping block included the National Endowment for the Humanities, AmeriCorps and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, all of which provide critical funding and support to higher education institutions. Multiple higher education associations and nonprofit groups have since pushed back against Trump’s pink slips. But while the advocacy groups have won some relief via the courts, some higher ed experts still worry that in many cases the damage is done, even if the agencies remain standing

7/15/25Chemistry World

  National Science Foundation employees’ dissent declaration on ‘indefinite hold’

The Alexandria Declaration, named after the agency’s headquarters in Virginia, was expected to be issued on 14 July but is on ‘indefinite hold’, according to Stand Up for Science, which is organising the effort.  A leaked version of the NSF document  echoes similar concerns to those aired by workers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

7/15/25The Transmitter

NIH proposal sows concerns over future of animal research, unnecessary costs

The new NIH policy calls for greater incorporation of new approach methodologies in all future Notices of Funding Opportunities related to animal model systems.

7/16/25Nature, World View

How to de-Americanize global science

The US science crisis presents an opportunity to reinvent funding and management of the global research enterprise

7/15/25Inside Higher Ed

  Rufo, Shapiro, Others Request New Higher Ed ‘Contract’

A conservative think tank called on President Trump Tuesday to “draft a new contract” that universities must follow or face “revocation of all public benefit.” Among other things, institutions would have to end “their direct participation in social and political activism,” abolish “DEI bureaucracies,” and publish “complete data on race, admissions, and class rank,” according to the statement put out by the Manhattan Institute.

7/15/25Inside Higher Ed

  House Appropriators Propose 23% Cut to NSF

House Republicans want to cut the National Science Foundation’s funding by about $2 billion, according to budget documents  released  Monday. The House proposal shows Republicans’ priorities as funding talks for the coming fiscal year ramp up. Congress has until Sept. 30 to reach an agreement on a budget, which is made up of 12 appropriations bills, or else the government could shut down. The House appropriations committee has released several proposal bills, while its Senate counterpart is just getting started. 

7/15/25Inside Higher Ed

  What Trump’s Bombast Reveals About His Vision for Higher Ed

The administration’s use of public channels to herald funding freezes and federal investigations tells of a coherent agenda to remake higher ed, according to one political scientist.

7/12/25National Law Review

White House OSTP Issues Agency Guidance for Gold Standard Science

On June 23, 2025, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)  announced  that it issued  agency guidance  for implementing Gold Standard Science in the conduct and management of scientific activities

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