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News and updates

Administration Releases FY2027 Budget Proposal

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As expected, the Trump Administration released its FY2027 budget request today.  The initial set of budget documents published this morning can be found here.

Our office will continue to provide further updates as we review the documents but some of the initial proposals are as follows:

Health and Human Services

  • $111.1 billion is proposed for the entire agency, which would represent a cut of $15.8 billion, or 12.5%, below the FY2026 level.
  • For NIH, the Administration is looking to cut the agency by $5 billion, to a total base funding level of approximately $41 billion.

Dept of Education

The Education Department would see a cut of $2.3 billion, or 2.9%, below the FY2026 level, for a total of $76.5 billion.

  • The maximum Pell grant would remain the same at $7395.  Additional funds are being proposed to fill a shortfall in the program
  • Once again, the SEOG program is targeted for elimination.
  • Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) programs would be cut by $354 million
  • Title VI International Education Program would be eliminated (currently funded at $81 million)

National Science Foundation

Like last year’s budget proposal, this year’s also seeks to drastically cut NSF.  Overall, the Administration would fund NSF at $4.0 billion, a cut of $4.8 billion, or nearly 55%.

Department of War

As expected, the Administration calls for a budget of $1.5 trillion for the agency, which would represent an increase of more than $440 billion, or 44%.

One of the priorities for the department is “maritime dominance.”

NASA

NASA would seen an overall decrease of $5.6 billion, or 23%, to $18.8 billion for FY2027.

Within NASA, the Science Mission Directorate would be cut by $3.4 billion, with 40 “low-priority” missions eliminated.

Space Tech would be cut by $297 million and the Office of STEM Engagement, where Space Grant is housed, would be cut by $143 million.

Department of Energy (DOE)

Dept of Energy would see a bump of $4.8 billion, or about 10%, to a total of $53.9 billion

The Office of Science and ARPA-E would both see cuts, with Science slated for a decrease of $1.1 billion and a $150- million cut targeted for ARPA-E.

NOAA

The Administration is once looking to cut NOAA, with the FY2027 budget calling for a $1.6-billion decrease and proposing to fund the agency at $4.0 billion.

Dept of Interior

Interior is being targeted for a cut of $2.3 billion, or nearly 13%, and would receive a total of $15.9 billion in FY2027 under this budget.

Please check back here for additional updates.

Trump fires Pam Bondi as attorney general

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In an abrupt end to a tumultuous tenure as US Attorney General, President Trump has announced Pam Bondi is out and will be replaced in an acting capacity by her deputy, Todd Blanche. A permanent replacement has yet to be announced, but EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is rumored to be a likely pick.

In a Truth Social post, President Trump said Bondi would move to a “much needed and important new job in the private sector, to be announced at a date in the near future.” She is the second Cabinet secretary to be ousted within the last month, following Kristi Noem’s removal as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

This change comes as President Trump’s frustration has reportedly grown over her handling of the Epstein files and various criminal investigations into his perceived political opponents, including Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, former FBI Director James Comey, and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Bondi is facing a subpoena from the House Oversight Committee to testify about the Epstein files later this month. Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, who forced a vote on the subpoena, said in a statement that it still stands.

Halfway through the fiscal year, NIH lags on grantmaking schedule

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As the halfway point of the federal fiscal year passes, the NIH has only obligated around 15 percent of the estimated $38 billion it has to distribute in grants and contracts, according to analysis by the Association of American Medical Colleges. The 43-day-long government shutdown in October and November is partially responsible for these delays, as well as layoffs and departures of thousands of NIH staff members since the beginning of President Trump’s second term. Despite Congress providing $47.2 billion in total funding to the NIH in FY26, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) had reportedly placed a hold on releasing funds, raising concerns that the agency was not authorizing the appropriated dollars. At a March 17 House oversight hearing on the NIH, Director Jay Bhattacharya assured the subcommittee that the agency will spend every dollar it has received from Congress.

The first half of FY25 also saw a slow start to NIH awards going out the door. This trend quickly sped up by the summer, but in an effort to spend its full budget, the NIH made the unusual shift to fund more large lump-sum payments for many years of research rather than paying for research one year at a time, resulting in fewer grantees.

Trump delays naming new CDC Director

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The White House remains on a time crunch to name a permanent director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Under federal law, Senate-confirmed positions have a 210-day limit on being led by acting replacements, a deadline which passed last night. The Health Department announced yesterday that Dr. Jay Bhattacharya will continue to oversee the CDC until the agency has a permanent director, adding that Health Secretary RFK Jr. and Chris Klomp are leading the search.

President Trump has not yet announced his pick, as the administration struggles to find a nominee that aligns with Secretary Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again agenda, while avoiding enough of his vaccine stances to be able to win Senate confirmation.

The administration’s health agenda received a major blow last week when a federal judge in Massachusetts blocked several of Kennedy’s vaccine policies from being implemented. Ruling on a lawsuit brought by six prominent medical organizations, Judge Brian Murphy said that the federal government had not based its decisions on science in limiting Covid shots and revising the childhood vaccine schedule. The ruling also reversed all decisions made by panelists that Kennedy had appointed to the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices. An appeal is expected, but lawyers for the plaintiffs celebrated this as “a significant victory for public health, evidence-based medicine, the rule of law, and the American people.”

Trump administration announces student loan office will move to Treasury Department

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As part of the Trump administration’s ongoing pledge to dismantle the Education Department, the agency plans to shift the federal government’s student loan portfolio to the Treasury Department.

Moving the nearly $1.7 trillion portfolio out of ED has been a longtime goal for conservatives. In March, President Trump caught many by surprise by announcing the student loan portfolio would transfer to the Small Business Authority, a move which promoted immediate backlash and legal challenges. The Treasury Department has been a more popular choice for others in the administration. Following the announcement on Thursday, Secretary Scott Bessent said, “Treasury has the unique experience, the operational capability and the financial expertise to bring long overdue financial discipline to the program and be better stewards of taxpayer dollars.”

Senior officials at ED did not offer a timeline or estimated cost of this move, but said it would unfold in three stages, beginning with shifting management of student loans for borrowers in default. Those loans add up to $180 billion, roughly 11% of the student loan portfolio. Eventually, the Treasury Department plans to take responsibility for all student loans.

A fact sheet provided by the administration highlighted decades of mismanagement with the student loan portfolio, and promised that with this change, students and families “will continue to receive the high-quality service they have come to expect under the Trump administration.”

But critics feel undertaking a move of this magnitude will be costly and complex, the latest in a string of interagency agreements that aim to gradually dismantle the Education Department. Shutting down the department would require Congressional approval, but the Trump administration has moved to transfer more responsibilities away from ED throughout the last year. In November, the department moved the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Office of Postsecondary Education to the Labor Department.