CU Federal Updates and Actions Page

As a reminder, CU Federal Relations has created a Federal Updates and Actions page to provide access to communications and information regarding the ongoing federal transition, recent executive orders, and their ongoing impact on CU.

In addition, CU Federal Relations will be providing occasional updates on federal legislation and the appropriations process. These updates can be found on the Federal Legislation and Appropriations page.

FY26 Appropriations and Rescissions Update

The House and Senate are currently in recess and are scheduled to return to Washington on September 2. Prior to the recess, legislators in both chambers began work on Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) appropriations bills ahead of the September 30 deadline when current funding expires. The FY26 House and Senate appropriations status table can be found on Congress.gov.

The Senate passed the FY26 Agriculture-FDA, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction-VA appropriations bills on August 1. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the FY26 Defense and Labor, HHS and Education appropriations bills on July 31.

The House passed the FY26 Defense appropriations bill on July 18. The House Appropriation Committee approved the FY26 Energy-Water and Transportation-HUD bills on July 17, the Interior-Environment bill on July 22, and the State-Foreign Operations bill on July 23.

President Trump signed the Rescissions Act of 2025 (H.R. 4) into law on July 24. $9 billion in funding for public media and foreign aid that had previously been appropriated by Congress was rolled back in the package. Read more about the package at CPR News.

VA Secretary Visits the Marcus Institute for Brain Health at CU Anschutz

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Douglas Collins visited the Marcus Institute for Brain Health (MIBH) at CU Anschutz Medical Campus on July 22. Secretary Collins toured the physical performance laboratory and creative arts therapy program and participated in a roundtable discussing the role of the MIBH in treating traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Secretary Collins was joined by Colorado Governor Jared Polis, Chancellor Don Elliman, and other campus and community leaders. More can be read at the CU Anschutz newsroom.

CU Faculty Receive NSF Research Awards

The National Science Foundation (NSF) released several grant awards with research to be done by CU faculty and graduate students from August through October 2025. Learn more about their important work through the links below.

Ezio Iacocca (UCCS) earned an ICEBERG award. Farnoush Banaei-Kashani, Amy Hassinoff, and Zhengxiong Li (CU Denver) and Quentin Biddy, Andrew Barrett, Danna Gurari, Rahul Nandkishore, Nuris Figueroa-Moralas, Kristy Tiampo, and Kathryn Wilsterman (CU Boulder) received Collaborative Research grants.

Additionally, Michael Moore (CU Denver) and Oliva Cooper, Julie Comerford, Donata Giglio, Julienne Stroeve, Evava Pietri, Ann-Marie Madigan, Zachary Kilpatrick, Yu Morton, Willow Reed, Joshua Knobloch, Astrid Ogilvie, Ian Grooms, Lori Peek, Francois Barthelat, and Emily Yeh (CU Boulder) also received NSF awards. 

CU Boulder’s NSF National AI Institute for Student-AI Learning (NSF iSAT) also received a renewal award.

Department of Education Updates SAVE Plans

Interest accrual restarted for borrowers enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan on August 1. This came after a court injunction prevented the U.S. Department of Education (ED) from implementing the SAVE Plan. Read the Federal Student Aid office’s press release for more details.

Recent Capitol Hill Visits

Dr. Iain Boyd, Director of the Center for National Security Initiatives (NSI) at CU Boulder, met with staff from the offices of Reps. Hurd and Crow on July 21.

Dr. Waleed Abdalati, director of CIRES at CU Boulder, testified before the Environment Subcommittee of the U.S. House Science, Space, and Technology Committee on July 16. Dr. Abdalati highlighted the importance of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research conducted with university partners at Cooperative Institutes, including CIRES. A video of the hearing is available on the committee website.