CONGRESS

The House Committee on Education and Workforce held a markup of H.R. 6359, the Pregnant Students’ Rights Act, and passed the bill by a vote of 21 to 15.

By a 397 to 28 vote, the House passed a bill that would encompass three appropriations measures providing funding for the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Justice, Energy and Interior as well as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). This funding package includes a provision prohibiting the Administration from applying constraints on indirect costs rates for financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Commerce, NASA and NSF that were not in place prior to the beginning of this Administration.

ADMINISTRATION

The Accountability in Higher Education and Access through Demand-driven Workforce Pell (AHEAD) Committee reached consensus on its proposed regulatory language establishing earnings accountability and reporting requirements tied to H.R. 1.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security finalized a rule that restructures the H-1B visa lottery by prioritizing higher-paying jobs, replacing the former random selection process with a wage-tiered system.

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) launched a new Section 117 reporting portal for higher education institutions to disclose gifts or contracts of $250,000 or more from foreign sources.

Media reports indicated that this week ED will resume garnishing wages from some student loan borrowers in default.

COURTS

A district court judge upheld President Trump’s authority to impose a $100,000 fee on H-1B visa applications.

An appeals court judge upheld a lower district court ruling that barred the Administration from implementing a 15 percent indirect cost rate for grants from the National Institutes of Health.

ED formally reversed reduction-in-force (RIF) notices after the U.S. Department of Justice withdrew its appeal in a case before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO v. United States Office of Management and Budget. This case pertained to the issuance of RIFs by several Federal agencies, including ED. This leaves the preliminary injunction issued by a lower court in place.

EVENTS

Penn Hill Group plans on providing clients with a summary of the following events next week:

January 13: House Education and Workforce Subcommittee Hearing titled “Who’s Watching the Kids? How Employers, Innovators, and Parents Are Solving America’s Child Care Crunch.”

January 14: House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee Hearing titled “Advancing America’s AI Action Plan.”

January 14: House Education and Workforce Full Committee Hearing titled “Building an AI-Ready America.”

January 15: Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Full Committee Hearing Titled “Plugged Out: Examining the Impact of Technology on America’s Youth.”