After voting on a number of nominees for Administration positions yesterday, the Senate followed the lead of the House and left town for a shortened August recess.
Although the members of the Senate left Washington yesterday, the chamber will hold pro forma sessions every three days to prevent recess appointments, should dramatic things occur in the context of the Russia investigations during the remainder of the month.
Category: Administration
Justice Dept. to Take on Affirmative Action in Higher Ed?
According to a document obtained by The New York Times on Tuesday, the Justice Department may be looking to take on colleges and universities that use race-based admission policies that discriminate against white applicants. Additional information about this potential development is available here and here.
Definition of “bona fide” relationship expanded by federal judge
A federal judge in Hawaii has ruled that the list of relatives created by the Trump Administration in its attempt to define a “bona fide” relationship with respect to its modified travel ban against six majority-Muslim nations is too narrow. The U.S. Supreme Court allowed a limited ban to go into effect and is scheduled to hear the case against the ban next year.
With respect to family members, the judge ruled yesterday that the government could not limit its definition of “bona fide” relationship to spouses, parents, parents-in-law, children, siblings and step- or half-siblings, sons- and daughters-in-law, and fiances. The judge ruled that the ban did not apply to other relatives, including grandparents and grandchildren, uncles and aunts, nieces and nephews, cousins, and brothers- and sisters-in law.
House Spending Bill Includes Helpful Language on F&A
The House spending bill that would fund the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in FY2018 includes helpful language on the facilities and administrative (F&A) costs issue. The bill includes the following language on the issue:
In making Federal financial assistance, the NIH shall continue to apply the provisions relating to indirect costs in part 75 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations, including with respect to the approval of deviations from negotiated rates, to the same extent and in the same manner as the NIH applied such provisions in the third quarter of fiscal year 2017. None of the funds appropriated by this Act may be used by the NIH to develop or implement a modified approach to such provisions, or to intentionally or substantially expand the fiscal effect of the approval of such deviations from negotiated rates beyond the proportional effect of such approvals in such quarter.
The measure is scheduled to be taken up by the House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee this afternoon. UW Federal Relations will provide additional updates.
Modified Travel Ban Takes Effect, Hawaii Files Suit
Lawyers for the State of Hawaii and an imam in Hawaii yesterday filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration’s partial ban that went into effect last evening. The lawsuit argues that the definitions being used by the government are narrower than what the Supreme Court allowed in its order.