President Trump signs H.R. 1 into law
President Trump signed H.R. 1: One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law on July 4. The Senate passed the amended legislation with a 51-50 vote with Vice President J.D. Vance casting the tie-breaking vote on July 1. In the House, the chamber voted 218-215 to accept the Senate’s amendments passing the bill.
The measure has provisions surrounding the administration’s priorities. When it comes to higher education, the bill:
- includes two new loan repayment options — a Repayment Assistance Plan and a standard plan;
- eliminates Grad PLUS loans;
- caps borrowing for graduate and professional students, limiting graduate students to $20,500 per year and $100,000 over a lifetime, and professional students to $50,000 a year with $200,000 over a lifetime;
- creates a new “Workforce Pell” program; and
- changes the endowment tax for certain private colleges and universities.
Some elements of the bill will not be enacted until 2027 or later.
NIH launches fast-track appeals process for terminated grants
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Jay Bhattacharya has implemented a new, accelerated appeals process aimed at swiftly addressing recent NIH grant terminations. The updated process now allows for appeals to be reviewed and resolved within weeks, reversing many of the grant cuts that had previously taken months to address.
During the June 10 Senate Appropriations hearing, Bhattacharya confirmed that hundreds of appeals are currently in progress and emphasized that the goal is to preserve critical research, not eliminate it. The initiative follows widespread concern over the cancellation of approximately 2,100 grants valued at $9.5 billion, along with $2.6 billion in contracts. The funding cuts made over the past year drew backlash from researchers, advocacy groups, and NIH staff. Over 300 NIH employees signed the Bethesda Declaration, calling for the reversal of the cuts and condemning political interference in scientific funding.
NIH civil rights notice policy reversals
On June 9, NIH appeared to rescind its April 2024 notice requiring institutions to certify compliance with federal civil rights obligations, only to remove that rescission shortly thereafter — prompting uncertainty among grantees and research administrators. Then, NIH officially rescinded the notice again on June 12, stating it is “awaiting further government-wide guidance.”
UNC Federal Affairs will continue to monitor developments closely and is coordinating with peer institutions and national associations to help ensure campus stakeholders remain informed.
TRO issued in case challenging DoD 15% F&A cap
Following the Department of Defense’s (DoD) June 12 memo titled “Implementation of a 15% Indirect Cost Cap on Assistance Awards to Institutions of Higher Education,” the Association of American Universities, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, American Council on Education, 11 individual universities, and one university system filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts challenging the policy.
DoD’s memo outlines the agency’s plan to cap indirect costs at 15% for all new awards to institutions of higher education and renegotiate indirect cost rates to 15% for all existing awards. The aim of the lawsuit is to block the implementation of the policy. On June 17, the court granted a motion for a temporary restraining (TRO) in the case. The TRO covers all institutions in the country and prohibits the DoD from “implementing, instituting, maintaining, or giving effect” to the immediately effective portions of the rate cap policy. The court held a hearing on the case on July 2, and UNC Federal Affairs is awaiting an update from the plaintiffs.
Federal judge issues the reinstatement of cancelled NIH grants
On June 16, a federal judge in Massachusetts reinstated hundreds of research grants that were previously terminated by the NIH. Many of these grants were terminated due to various executive orders issued by President Trump surrounding diversity, equity, inclusion, and gender ideology.
The ruling applies to the around 800 grants that were cancelled and identified in the two lawsuits. UNC Federal Affairs, in partnership with the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, will continue to closely monitor developments and potential changes in federal grant support.
Congressional hearings spotlight proposed budget cuts and health policy shifts
The week of June 23, two key congressional hearings drew national attention as lawmakers questioned senior administration officials on proposed budget cuts and major policy changes. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee to defend a $9.4 billion rescission package proposed by the Trump administration.
The package targets foreign aid programs and funding for public broadcasting, including NPR and PBS. Vought argued the cuts were necessary to rein in spending and align with administration priorities. Lawmakers, including Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), warned that approving the package could set a dangerous precedent by allowing the executive branch to bypass congressional control of federal funding. Vought declined to specify which programs would be affected if the rescissions are approved and did not rule out using impoundment tactics to withhold funds even without legislative support.
In a separate House Energy and Commerce hearing, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified on the administration’s FY26 budget request and recent policy changes. Lawmakers pressed Kennedy on proposed cuts to the NIH, substance use prevention programs, and HIV research. Kennedy also faced intense scrutiny for dismissing the CDC’s longstanding vaccine advisory committee and replacing it with a smaller group that includes vocal vaccine skeptics.
Defending the decision, Kennedy cited concerns about conflicts of interest and public trust, while members from both parties questioned the scientific qualifications of the new panelists and the administration’s abrupt reversal of vaccine guidance for pregnant women and healthy children.
Judge issues block on NSF’s policy to cap indirect costs
On June 20, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted a summary judgement in favor of the plaintiffs (Association of Public and Land Grant Universities, Association of American Universities, American Council on Education, and 13 universities) on their joint lawsuit. The plaintiffs filed the lawsuit challenging the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) proposed 15% cap on indirect costs.
The court ordered that NSF cannot implement the cap policy and must provide notice of the decision to all grant recipients within 72 hours of the ruling. There is a chance that the administration will challenge the ruling, like other cases with agencies surrounding capping indirect costs.
OSTP issues new guidance on “Gold Standard Science”
The week of July 7, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released new guidance implementing President Trump’s executive order on “Gold Standard Science.” The memo outlines nine core principles that federal agencies must adopt in conducting and supporting scientific research. These include reproducibility, transparency, falsifiability, merit-based peer review, clear communication of uncertainty, interdisciplinary collaboration, acceptance of null results, and robust conflict-of-interest policies.
Agencies are required to submit implementation plans by August 22, 2025, detailing how these standards will be incorporated into research design, grantmaking, public communication, and internal operations. OSTP will monitor agency progress on an annual basis.