FY27 Appropriations Update
Congress is currently working on the Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) appropriation process. Congress has provided a full FY27 status table [3] for House and Senate appropriations bills.

The House Appropriations Committee began marking up the twelve appropriations bills in April and has approved funding bills for all departments. The National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs bill (H.R. 8595 [4]) was approved on July 15.  

The Senate Appropriations Committee has not begun markups on their appropriations bills due to disagreements over topline spending totals for defense and non-defense programs. Due to these delays, Congress is negotiating a continuing resolution (CR) to temporarily fund the government and avoid a shutdown after the FY26 deadline on Sept. 30. The House passed their stopgap funding bill on July 21. The bill, which would extend funding through Dec. 4, was passed largely along party lines. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has pledged to put a CR on the floor before the August recess. Senate leadership has discussed including “anomalies,” which are specific exemptions to flat funding, in their version of the stopgap bill. Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) has indicated that a stopgap bill could be released by the end of the week, reports Semafor [5].The University of Colorado Federal Relations team actively advocates for robust funding for programs which support our students and researchers, including federal financial aid and numerous research agencies and programs. We have submitted CU-specific requests to Congress, signed stakeholder support letters, urged our members to lead and sign dear colleague letters, and brought CU leadership, faculty and students to Capitol Hill to champion university priorities.

NDAA Update
The House passed their version of the FY27 National Defense Authorization Act [6] (NDAA) on July 22, largely along party lines. Senate Democrats have blocked their version from moving onto the floor in protest of the war in Iran.

CU Campuses Comment on OMB Uniform Guidance Proposal
CU Anschutz [7], Boulder [8], Colorado Springs [9], and Denver [10] each submitted comments to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on July 13 on a proposed rule [11] that would modify the federal government’s guidance for federal financial assistance.

CU Federal Relations shared the university's comments with the Colorado congressional delegation. Many Colorado lawmakers also weighed in with OMB directly, including Sens. Bennet and Hickenlooper, who urged OMB to rescind the rule in a letter [12] signed by 47 Senate Democrats. Other congressional leaders, including Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) [13] and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) [14], have also expressed concern about the proposed regulation. OMB must now review and consider the public's feedback. OMB intends to finalize the rule by Oct. 1. CU Federal Relations will track the rule as it progresses through the government and consider congressional and other strategies to communicate where we have concerns with the proposed changes. 

College Transparency Act Advances Out of Senate Committee
The College Transparency Act (S. 2511 [15]) advanced out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee on a bipartisan 21-1 vote on July 30. The bill would require comprehensive reporting of student outcomes including enrollment, completion, and post-college earnings. Sen. Hickenlooper, a cosponsor of the bill, voted in favor. Sen. Hickenlooper quoted [16] CU President Todd Saliman in a press release announcing the bill’s reintroduction on Aug. 18, 2025.

Recent Capitol Hill Visits
CU Boulder Athletic Director Fernando Lovo met with Rep. Boebert and staff from the offices of Sens. Bennet and Hickenlooper and Reps. Hurd, Crank, Crow, and Evans on July 15.

UCCS Chancellor Jennifer Sobanet and UCCS staff members met virtually with Rep. Crank on July 22.

Iain Boyd, Director of the Center for National Security Initiatives [17] at CU Boulder, met with Brad Blakestad, Director of the National Quantum Coordination Office at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) on July 23. Director Blakestad obtained his PhD in Physics from CU Boulder.

Recent Colorado Events
Katherine Ho, Regional Director for the State Department’s Office of Foreign Missions, visited CU Denver and met with Chancellor Ken Christensen; Dan Maxey, COS and VC of Strategic Initiatives; and Alana Jones, AVC of CU Denver | Anschutz’s Office of International Affairs on July 30.