Science policy this week: October 20, 2025

What’s Ahead

A white domed building lit up against a black sky. — The Great Dome on the MIT Campus.

Eric Baetscher, CC BY-SA 3.0

Colleges reject Trump higher-ed compact

A majority of the nine universities invited by the Trump administration to sign the so-called Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education had so far rejected the offer as of Monday morning. The compact promised universities preferential access to federal funds in exchange for commitments to a range of operating principles, including maintaining “institutional neutrality.” The Trump administration asked institutions to respond to the offer by Oct. 20.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Brown University, the University of Southern California, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Virginia and Dartmouth University have all so far rejected the offer. MIT President Sally Kornbluth was the first to decline, telling Education Secretary Linda McMahon in a letter that “fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.” Others echoed this sentiment, reaffirming their commitments to core institutional values such as academic freedom and fair admissions processes.

On Oct. 12, President Trump opened up the offer to all higher education institutions in a Truth Social post. The institutions included in the original offer that had not yet rejected it were reportedly invited to a meeting on Friday afternoon. The meeting invite was also extended to Arizona State University, the University of Kansas, and Washington University in St. Louis.

At the time of publication, no university had yet agreed to the compact, though there are indications the University of Texas at Austin was considering it, with Chairman of the UT System Board of Regents, Kevin Eltife, saying he was “honored” that the institution had been selected for potential funding advantages. UT faculty and students have expressed opposition to the university joining the compact.

Judge halts shutdown RIFs

A federal judge in San Francisco has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from conducting a mass firing of federal employees during the government shutdown. Judge Susan Illston sided with labor unions representing federal employees last week, saying the administration’s use of reduction-in-force notices during a shutdown is transparently politically motivated and likely a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. The Trump administration has issued more than 4,000 RIF notices to federal employees since the shutdown began on Oct. 1.

For now, the administration may not enforce any RIFs to programs that employ union members or issue more such RIFs. Defendants were given two business days to disclose details on all “actual or imminent” RIFs, which are now available in the court docket. A hearing on the case is scheduled to take place on Oct. 28.

In her written opinion, Illston stated it is “far from normal for an administration to fire line-level civilian employees during a government shutdown as a way to punish the opposing political party. But that is precisely what President Trump has announced he is doing.”

Meanwhile in Congress, the Senate failed to pass a continuing resolution bill to temporarily fund the government for the tenth time last week. Senate Democrats also voted Thursday to block the fiscal year 2026 defense appropriations bill, instead pushing for a broader deal to resolve the shutdown.

Also last week, the Pentagon reportedly filled its $8 billion payroll for troops by tapping into unspecified R&D funds following an order from President Trump. The Senate is scheduled to meet this week to vote on legislation to keep paying the military and other federal workers who are required to keep working during the shutdown.

Harvard research funding restored

Harvard University has now recovered most of its federal research grants that were cancelled by the Trump administration, The Boston Globe reports. Earlier this year, the Trump administration froze more than $2.6 billion dollars in research grants to Harvard, citing concerns that the institution had failed to adequately address antisemitism on campus — a charge the university has denied. A federal judge ruled on Sept. 3 that the funding freeze was illegal and ordered the Trump administration to restore the funding. It was unclear how long the reinstatement of funds would take given the government shutdown.

While most of Harvard’s research grants have now been reinstated, Harvard School of Public Health Dean Andrea Baccarelli sent an email last week urging faculty to remain cautious about hiring “given continued uncertainty and the potential for funds to be disrupted again,” according to reporting by The Harvard Crimson. Harvard last week reported an operating loss of $113 million in fiscal year 2025 as of June, with University President Alan Garber reportedly describing the year as “extraordinarily challenging, with political and economic disruption affecting many sectors, including higher education.”

Also on our radar

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab laid off 550 people last week. JPL Director Dave Gallagher said in a statement that the latest RIF was part of a “reorganization” that began in July and is unrelated to the government shutdown. JPL laid off hundreds more employees last year in response to Mars Sample Return mission funding cuts. JPL’s staff has shrunk by approximately a third in the past two years, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee will consider the nomination of Timothy Petty to be deputy NOAA administrator on Wednesday. Petty previously served as assistant secretary for water and science at the Department of the Interior, overseeing USGS during the first Trump administration.
DOE undersecretary Wells Griffith has been ousted from his role, reportedly due to a conflict between DOE leaders and the White House over cuts to clean energy grants. Griffith was confirmed in July and his responsibilities included oversight of various energy technology demonstration and deployment programs. Alex Fitzsimmons has been named acting undersecretary.
Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion, and Peter Howitt have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for their work on how innovation and technology drive economic growth.