November 13, 2019
Don’t Forget, the Current CR Expires Next Week
While a large swath of Washington is preoccupied with the public impeachment hearings, which started earlier today, senior appropriators met yesterday to figure out a path forward on how to keep the government open past next Thursday. The current continuing resolution, which has kept the federal government open since October 1, expires at midnight, November…
Opposing the EPA “Transparency Rule”
On November 13th, UW signed onto a letter circulated by the Michael J Fox Foundation to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. The letter opposes the Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science rule, which would require raw data to be made publicly available when it is used to formulate new regulations. UW is joined by over…
November 12, 2019
SCOTUS Hears DACA Today
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) will hear oral arguments for Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California (18-587). Consolidated with similar cases, the Court will hear arguments related to the Administration’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Considered one of the major cases…
November 8, 2019
What We’re Reading this Week (November 4th-8th, 2019)
Below is a selection of articles the Federal Relations team has read this week. US and China to Rollback Tariffs: The US and China have entered “extensive and serious discussions” to rollback tariffs. This would be done in phases, and is expected to greatly improve global economic output. More at Politico. Republicans Seek Whistleblower Testimony:…
November 7, 2019
Idea Floating for New Research-Funding Entity
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is considering a draft proposal for a new entity which would spend $100 billion over five years on research related to artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and 5G technology. The tentative name for the proposed organization is the “National Science and Technology Foundation”. It would be a subsidiary of the National…
November 1, 2019
What We’re Reading this Week (October 28th-November 1st, 2019)
Below is a selection of articles the Federal Relations team has read this week. ISIS Leader Killed: President Trump announced that ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi was killed in a raid at the beginning of the week, and that his “likely replacement” was also killed, greatly weakening the terrorist organization. More at CBS. American Colleges…
October 31, 2019
One Step At A Time
After having agreed to take it up late last week, the Senate passed this afternoon a four-bill appropriations package by a vote of 84 – 9. The bundle, a Senate substitute to a House-passed bill, includes the following FY2020 funding bills: Agriculture; Commerce-Justice-Science; Interior; and Transportation – Housing and Urban Development. This represents the first four…
HEA Bill Finally Clears Committee
The House Education and Labor Committee returned this morning for a third day of markup to finally approve the bill to reauthorize the Higher Education Act (HEA). It was reported out by a vote of 28 to 22. Approximately five dozen amendments were considered during the consideration of the legislation. The committee Democrats issued the…
October 30, 2019
House Committee Still Working on HEA
Having lasted two days so far, the House Education and Labor Committee is still in the process of marking up the Democratic version of a bill to reauthorize the Higher Education Act (HEA). The committee is currently in recess, allowing members to vote on bills being considered on the floor. By the time the session…
October 29, 2019
House Ed & Labor Marks Up HEA
The House Education and Labor Committee is scheduled to mark up this morning the HEA reauthorization legislation that was introduced approximately two weeks ago. Yesterday, an amendment to the bill that would essentially serve as the substitute to the original at the markup session was filed. We expect the markup to be fairly partisan,…