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News and updates

Judge Freezes Trump Rule Limiting Graduate Student Loan Access

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Late Wednesday night, a federal judge in Washington, D.C. blocked the Trump administration from implementing a new rule that would cap federal student loans for graduate students. The new rule was set to take effect on July 1. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell sided with eight trade organizations, including the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and the PA Education Association, who brought the suit against the Education Department.

The Education Department published the rule on May 1, attempting to implement the federal student loan changes that were part of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. This included eliminating Grad PLUS loans, and setting loan limits for graduate/professional degrees, as well as altering the regulatory definition of what is considered “a professional degree” to only cover certain degrees in 11 fields.

The preliminary injunction applies to this definition of professional degrees component, and as of now, the July 1 deadline for the new caps is blocked.

House Markups Continue

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Appropriations season is in full swing for FY27, with the House Appropriations Committee recently passing several of the 12 funding bills. As of today, the following bills have passed through full committee:

  • Agriculture-Rural Development-FDA
  • Transportation-HUD
  • Labor-HHS-Education
  • Homeland Security
  • Interior-Environment
  • Legislative Branch
  • Energy-Water
  • Military Construction-Veteran Affairs
  • Commerce-Justice-Science
  • Financial Services and General Government
  • National Security-SFOPS

Republican leadership postponed Senate markups, which were scheduled to start last week, citing an inability to reach an agreement with Democrats on topline funding levels.

Our appropriations tracker is updated with the most recent funding numbers as of June 10.

White House Proposes New Rules on Research Grant Approvals

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The White House released draft regulations yesterday that aim to centralize Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control over the release of government funds, including scientific research grants.

If enacted, the proposal would dramatically change the peer review process, giving senior political appointees final say over approvals.

Section 200.205 states that “consistent with the Executive order, senior appointees must conduct these reviews and apply specific principles when evaluating proposals. These principles include ensuring that discretionary awards advance the President’s policy priorities, prohibit the use of funds for discriminatory or otherwise impermissible purposes, and emphasize ensuring compliance with applicable law.” This section refers to President Trump’s August 7 Executive Order regarding oversight of federal grantmaking.

The proposal states that the scientific peer review of research proposals “remains advisory and does not replace agency discretion.”

The proposed OMB rule would not affect the indirect costs rate, which the administration had previously tried to cap at 15% last year.

ED Publishes “Living Document” on OBBB Implementation

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The Department of Education (ED) has published a “living document” with Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and information on virtual office hours to support HR 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 (P.L.119-21) (OBBB).

The first round of FAQs on student loan reforms is posted. The Department considers the FAQs to be a living document and will continue to post new and updated FAQs as they become available.

House Releases Energy-Water Appropriations Bill

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The House Energy-Water Appropriations Subcommittee released its FY27 spending bill yesterday, and it heads to markup this morning. The draft bill would provide $58.5 billion in discretionary spending, an increase of $461 million from FY26.

Key features of the bill include:

  • $50.36 billion for the Department of Energy (a $456 million decrease)
    • $8.525 billion for the DOE Office of Science (a $125 million increase)
    • $1.8 billion for Nuclear Energy (a $15 million increase)
  • $9.75 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers
  • $1.86 billion for the Bureau of Reclamation and the Department of the Interior (a $211 million increase)
  • $1.85 billion for Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation (previously Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, a $1.25 billion decrease)
  • $300 million for ARPA-E (a $50 million decrease)

A summary of the bill can be found here and the full bill text can be found here.