Here’s a selection of article the Federal Relations team is reading this week.
Complicated Timelines – Congress returns after the Thanksgiving Recess this week and faces some significant deadlines and challenges before the end of the year (or Friday when the transportation bill expires). Read more at Roll Call.
Packed Agenda – Congress has an ambitious schedule for the next two weeks (18 days to be exact). It will try to pass all the must pass legislation as well as a full omnibus appropriations bill…and hopefully score some political points. Never underestimate the magic of Christmas! It truly helps legislation happen. Read more at Politico.
Fisher at SCOTUS, Again – Fisher vs. University of Texas is back before the Supreme Court on December 9th. Still at issue is did the university use race in an unconstitutional way in picking the freshman class in 2008, and in keeping Fisher out of that class. The specific issue before the court is that the Fifth Circuit disobeyed the Supreme Court’s 2013 order to reconsider the Texas policy using a rigorous “strict scrutiny” approach. Read more at SOTUS Blog.
Guns & the Hill – Just hours before the San Bernardino shooting, physicians from around the country made the rounds on Capitol Hill urging lawmakers to lift the federal funding ban on gun violence research. Read more at The Washington Post.
Billionaire Club – Recent studies have shown that going to an Ivy League college does not make you more apt to make a ton of money, like a billion dollars. Attending one of these elite institutions will not likely impact your future earnings. Read more at The Washington Post.
College Costs – Colleges are facing tough times and there is much speculation on how to better create a more affordable college experience. The Washington post has four things colleges should do. Read more at The Post. And the counter point of four things columnists should know about universities before they write about them. Also at The Post.
Open Mic – This week’s “Open Mike” blog by Mike Lauer, Deputy Director for Intermural Research, focuses on NIH Support of Graduate Training Programs. Read more at NIH.
Renminbi Approved – The IMF designated the Chinese renminbi as one of the world’s elite currencies, which reflects the heft of China’s economy as a global economic power. The decision will help pave the way for broader use of the renminbi in trade and finance. Just four other currencies — the dollar, the euro, the pound and the yen — have the IMF designation. Read more at The New York Times.
Cheney Returns! – Former Vice President Dick Cheney returns to the Capitol this week, and permanently, as the former VP and Congressman has his likeness join the 44 other busts of VP in the Senate. Read more at Roll Call.
Taxes and Grad Students – Graduate students can claim tax benefits at a higher rate than their undergraduate peers and over half of graduate students earning above $106,000 are eligible for a tax benefit. Which graduate students are claiming these benefits? Some little-known facts. Read more at Ed Central.
Tough Questions – The University of Oregon board of trustees face challenging questions about how best to prevent sexual assaults on campus. Read more at The Register Guard.
‘Tis the Season – As Christmas comes barreling closer, the stress of giving gifts is upon us! How do you give your loved ones a gift that the love, like or just don’t hate? Science has some answers. Read more at The Wall Street Journal.
I’m Such A Poor Boy, I Need No Sympathy – Forty years ago this week, Bohemian Rhaposdy went to the top of the charts in Britain. It was too long and it was Queen’s first #1 song. Unlike anything else, the song has inspired diverse artists from Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys to Guns ‘n Roses’ Slash. Read more about Queen’s legacy in the Economist.