3/3/25: US Congress nowhere close to deal to avert shutdown ahead of March 14 deadline (Reuters) With less than two weeks to go before a March 14 deadline, Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress appear to be nowhere close to a deal to avert a government shutdown that would throw Washington into deeper turmoil. The talks have been complicated by President Donald Trump , who has ignored spending laws passed by Congress, suspended foreign aid and fired tens of thousands of federal workers. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-congress-nowhere-close-deal-avert-shutdown-ahead-march-14-deadline-2025-03-03/
See also: Government shutdown looms as Trump tries to assert new spending powers (Washington Post) https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/03/03/government-shutdown-trump-spending-powers/
See also: Shutdown clock ticks with Trump set to address Congress (The Hill) https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5172478-capitol-hill-government-shutdown/
3/3/25: More Universities Slow Spending, Admissions Over Federal Funding Chaos (Forbes) The toll from the chaos surrounding the Trump administration’s reduction or suspension of financial support for university research, particularly through the National Institutes of Health, continues to mount. An increasing number of research universities have recently announced they would be trimming their budgets, freezing new hiring, or pulling back on PhD admissions because of concerns over federal funding constraints. https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2025/03/03/more-universities-cut-budgets-admissions-due-to-federal-funding-chaos/
3/3/25: ED Shares More Details About DEI Guidance (Inside Higher Ed) The Education Department offered more insight Friday into its sweeping guidance that essentially declared all race-based programming illegal, releasing a nine-page document answering frequently asked questions. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/03/03/education-dept-shares-faq-document-about-dei-guidance
3/3/35: Researchers in ‘Limbo’ as Trump Battles Courts (Inside Higher Ed) Despite court orders blocking Trump’s federal funding freeze, bans on DEI and other executive mandates, academic researchers are still in the dark on what all of it could mean for their careers and the pace of scientific discovery. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/science-research-policy/2025/03/03/researchers-remain-limbo-trump-battles-courts
3/2/25: The US is losing its next generation of health scientists (The Hill) The U.S. has held a global leadership position in public health and health science research for decades. In the past 75 years, this research has brought many diseases under control through basic research leading to vaccines, drugs, healthy lifestyles and public health initiatives. These achievements are the result of a nationwide research infrastructure that includes many universities wherein the next generation of scientists is being trained, largely supported by grant funding from the National Institutes of Health. https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/5169079-us-health-science-research-under-attack/
3/2/25: Pentagon guts national security program that harnessed social science (Science) The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) is gutting a landmark project designed to fund social science research with important implications for national security. Dozens of researchers with grants under the Minerva Research Initiative (MRI)—studying violent extremism, disinformation, and threats from climate change, for example—have had their grants terminated in recent days. Participants in the most recent round of applications received an email that the department was “no longer offering the Minerva University Research Competition. ” https://www.science.org/content/article/pentagon-guts-national-security-program-harnessed-social-science
2/28/25: Exclusive: U.S. federal research integrity teams take hits with departures (Retraction Watch) Amid efforts by the Trump administration to “ put an end to fraudulent and wasteful spending ” and “ enhance ” accountability, two key offices charged with investigating fraud and holding scientists and institutions accountable for federal spending have seen top leadership depart. https://retractionwatch.com/2025/02/27/exclusive-us-federal-research-integrity-departures-ori-nsf-oig/
2/28/25: RFK Jr. rolls back transparency policy on Medicaid and NIH changes (CBS, COGR President Matt Owens quoted) “For decades HHS policies affecting public health and research institutions have benefitted from public stakeholder participation in the policy process. Public input is an essential element of the policy process that reflects our nation’s democratic principles,” he said. https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/rfk-jr-transparency-policy-medicaid-nih/
Read full COGR statement here: https://www.cogr.edu/sites/default/files/COGR%20Statement%20_HHS.pdf
See also: RFK Jr. issues rule barring public comment on HHS rulemaking (The Hill) https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5170090-rfk-jr-hhs-public-comment-rulemaking-ends/
2/28/25: Trump team orders huge government layoffs: how science could fare (Nature) Nature talks with scientists inside US agencies about what the latest directive could mean for their staff members and budgets. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00660-9
