Researchers, Colleges Face Federal Shutdown Impacts

"The U.S. government has been without a spending plan for two weeks now. Senate Democrats aren't backing down on their demands that Republicans extend health insurance subsidies and reverse Medicaid funding cuts, and Senate Republicans continue to push a short-term funding bill that would reopen the government but not restore that funding. House Republicans aren't even in Washington to help work out a compromise."

"Few congressional watchers in D.C. think the shutdown, now in its 14th day, will end anytime soon. So far, the funding lapse has meant furloughs for thousands of federal workers, layoffs at eight agencies and shuttering of government buildings. Historically, shutdowns have a muted immediate impact, but a few higher ed experts warned that the longer they persist, the more disruptive they become."

"Some higher ed and research associations as well as universities and researchers say the continued shutdown is harming budgets and discoveries after the already tumultuous first nine months of the second Trump administration. The government closure means that, after this presidency's mass grant cancellations and slowdowns in new awards due to political reviews, the new federal fiscal year that began Oct. 1 has only brought even more uncertainty about the future of federally funded research."

"At the start of this month, the National Institutes of Health, a major funder of university research, issued written guidance saying that researchers "may be able to continue drawing funds from prior awards during an appropriations lapse." But there were caveats. The agency told researchers that, if their grants had "restrictive terms and conditions," or if their drawdowns triggered "one of the Payment Management System edit checks and/or the drawdown limit controls," they might not be able to access the money."

The U.S. government has been without a spending plan for two weeks, with Senate Democrats demanding extension of health insurance subsidies and reversal of Medicaid funding cuts while Senate Republicans push a short-term bill that would reopen the government but not restore those programs. House Republicans are absent from Washington, impeding compromise. The shutdown, now entering its 14th day, has produced thousands of federal furloughs, layoffs at eight agencies, and closures of government buildings. Higher-education and research organizations report harm to budgets and discoveries amid prior grant cancellations, political reviews, and new fiscal-year uncertainty beginning Oct. 1.

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