On July 23, the White House released its strategic action plan on AI, “Winning the Race: America’s AI Action Plan” (the AI Action Plan), which is designed to secure U.S. global leadership in AI with a strategic focus on...more
With the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) passed by U.S. Congress and signed into law, Congress now has less than three weeks that it will be in session before government funding expires on Sept. 30, 2025. Appropriators will...more
WHAT: A Massachusetts federal judge blocked the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from cutting hundreds of programs that provide grants to universities, hospitals, and other organizations. The judge found that NIH offered...more
The U.S. Senate is in session for three days this week while the U.S. House of Representatives is in recess all week. Both chambers will return for a week before breaking for the July 4 recess. Negotiations on the...more
THIS WEEK’S DOSE - - Reconciliation Moves Forward. Senate committees continue to release their reconciliation provisions. - NIH Director Testifies on FY 2026 Budget. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Bhattacharya...more
In response to concerns about eroded public confidence in scientists and the alleged misuse of scientific information by federal agencies to justify political ends, President Trump’s “Restoring Gold Standard Science”...more
On April 21, 2025, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a new civil rights term and condition of award for NIH grants, cooperative agreements and other transaction awards. The new term states that recipients of...more
Below is Alston & Bird’s Health Care Week in Review, which provides a synopsis of the latest news in health care regulations, notices, and guidance; federal legislation and congressional committee action; reports, studies,...more
Reconciliation markups in the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, as well as the House Committee on Ways and Means, were expected to be held this week but have been postponed until next week at the...more
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced on April 21, 2025, a significant change to the terms and conditions governing federal funding (the Notice) applicable to all NIH grants, cooperative agreements and other...more
Looking Ahead: House to Vote on Compromise Budget Resolution On the heels of the U.S. Senate's passage of a compromise budget resolution, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to consider the budget resolution on the...more
New rounds of cuts and organizational shifts for HHS staff and operating divisions could dramatically impact the healthcare and life sciences industry....more
On March 27, 2025, HHS announced a downsizing and restructuring plan that combines personnel cuts, centralization of functions, and consolidation of HHS divisions. Among other things, the plan aims to cut the HHS workforce by...more
On March 27, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a significant restructuring initiative in accordance with President Trump’s Executive Order, “Implementing the President’s Department of Government...more
Welcome to our second issue of The Academic Advisor for 2025. In this edition, we cover the following topics of interest for schools, institutions of higher education, and other education-focused organizations: - the...more
Public Health - Withdrawing from the World Health Organization (WHO)...more
The proposed cuts would place a 15% indirect cost rate on all new and existing grant awards received by research institutions and universities....more
If NIH succeeds in imposing an across-the-board indirect cost rate of 15%, rough estimates indicate the University of Michigan could lose $119 million a year. Emory University could be down $75 million. For the University of...more
On February 13, the Senate approved Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services and the White House shortly thereafter issued an Executive Order establishing the Make America Healthy...more
On Feb. 13, moments after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed as secretary of health and human services, President Donald Trump issued his first health care Executive Order (EO) under new leadership, laying the groundwork to...more
On January 27th, the Trump administration issued an order (the January 27th order) freezing all federal grants and loans, which would have cut billions of dollars of federal funding, largely to research universities....more
RFK Jr. Confirmed as HHS Secretary. In a 52 – 48 Senate vote, Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Jr. was confirmed as the next HHS secretary. All Democrats voted no, and Sen. McConnell (R-KY) was the only Republican to join them. He...more
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.) has been confirmed by the Senate as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In this capacity, RFK Jr. will oversee 13 agencies that are critical to U.S. health policy,...more