Universities Scrambling As Trump Cuts Federal Funding

Written By Guest User

Plus: Government shutdown countdown & astronauts stuck in space headed home soon

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TGIF 🎉

Before we get to the news, here’s a taste of what’s ahead for all of us this weekend from our weekly ‘Cheers to the Freakin’ Weekend’ section:

What We’re Watching:

What We’re Reading:

What We’re Eating:

The Mo News Team

🚨 ONE THING MAKING HEADLINES

Shutdown Watch: Dem At War With One Another Over Republican Bill

Will the government shut down tonight at midnight? TBD. Democrats are split – and going after each other – as a vote approaches to approve a GOP-written, House-passed spending bill to avoid a government shutdown.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) broke from his party and his earlier rejection of the bill, saying he’ll vote for it. He said the bill is bad, but a shutdown will be even worse. It’s angering some of his colleagues who view this as a moment of significant leverage to push back on President Trump’s second-term agenda.

  • On Friday, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries refused to say he still has confidence in Schumer’s leadership. More than 60 House Democrats sent a letter to Schumer today, imploring him to vote against the bill.

  • At least eight Senate Democrats are needed to pass the bill with a 60-vote majority, and it’s not clear Schumer has the support. Opponents of the bill think it gives Trump too much authority over government funds, while others worry a shutdown would also give Trump too much power. We will be watching CSPAN tonight. 🍿

🚨 ONE THING MAKING HEADLINES

Universities Scramble As Trump Administration Cuts Federal Funding, Makes Demands

Columbia University is one of the colleges being targeted.

Universities across the country have said they’re making cuts and freezing hiring, as the Trump administration announces it is investigating dozens more universities for potential racial discrimination.

  • Today, Trump announced a probe into 45 universities the administration accuses of engaging in DEI policies by considering “racial preferences” in academics or scholarships.

  • Days earlier, 60 universities received a letter (some are on both lists) from the Department of Education saying they were under investigation for alleged antisemitic discrimination related to campus-wide protests following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

ANTISEMITISM CRACKDOWN
The Department of Education argued that these 60 institutions could lose their federal funding for violating Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits any institution that receives federal funds from discriminating based on race, color, and national origin. The federal government gives out billions annually for a variety of programs, including medical research.

  • Education Secretary Linda McMahon said, “the Department is deeply disappointed that Jewish students studying on elite U.S. campuses continue to fear for their safety amid the relentless antisemitic eruptions that have severely disrupted campus life for more than a year.”

  • Wake-up call: Earlier this week, the Trump administration pulled $400 million in grants and contracts to Columbia University, due to what the administration called “continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.”

    • On Thursday, the Trump administration wrote a letter to Columbia detailing how it could get its money back, including expelling or suspending students who took over a university building last spring as part of anti-Israel protests. An hour earlier, Columbia began to do just that, but the White House has additional demands to be met.

Big picture: The crackdown on antisemitism is part of a larger Trump effort to threaten federal funding for any colleges that defy his policies and executive orders, specifically when it comes to DEI programs, transgender athletes, and student protests.

NIH CUTS
Last month, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) — the largest single public funder of biomedical and behavioral research in the world — froze $1.5 billion in medical research funds and paused reviewing new grant applications. Part of that freeze has been lifted after courts intervened, but the Atlantic reports that the agency has been awarding a fraction of its usual grants.

  • NIH has also terminated research grants that officials view are unaligned with Trump’s directives on DEI and gender. However, the mass pauses are largely related to Trump’s cost-cutting measures.

WHAT ABOUT ENDOWMENTS?
Many of the schools Trump has targeted have billion-dollar endowments, leading to questions as to why they can’t dip into that money in the case of federal grant cuts.

Endowments are assets, usually accumulated through donations, that are invested to accumulate more money. Universities use these dollars for a wide range of expenses like scholarships, professor salaries and research – usually requested by donors.

  • Prof. Elizabeth Popp Berman of the University of Michigan, which has a $19.2 billion endowment, notes that about three-quarters of that money is legally bound to specific requests by donors.

    • Berman says that “the unrestricted portion of the endowment does allow some room for maneuvering,” but that it is not enough to cover tens of millions in pulled federal support.

  • Plus, federal grants provide money for research projects that the government deems important – like researching to improve public health, education, or infrastructure – rather than leaving those decisions up to benefactors and academic leaders.

🚨 ONE THING WE ARE WATCHING

NASA Astronauts Set To Come Home After 8 Day Trip Turned Into 9 Months

Take two... or three, or seven. It’s been over nine months since Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore left Earth, despite their June 5 mission on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft originally being planned for just eight days.

After months of delays, and failures to launch, SpaceX’s Crew-10 mission is now set to take flight today at 7:03 p.m., weather permitting, and could bring the American astronauts home as early as Wednesday.

HOW WE GOT HERE
Suni and Butch were meant to test Boeing’s new Starliner spacecraft and return to Earth on it. However, the Starliner’s thrusters failed and its propulsion system developed helium leaks. By August, NASA scrapped the plan for them to return on the same ship and decided to bring them home on Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket instead.

  • The Starliner safely returned to Earth — sans humans — last September.

  • Once a plan was in place, the return trip for Suni and Butch has faced repeated delays, shifting several weeks after some scrubbed launches.

STAYING POSITIVE
Suni called space her “happy place,” and says the two have stayed busy conducting scientific experiments and other work aboard the International Space Station. However, they admit that the delays have been hard on their families.

  • “I think the hardest part is having the folks on the ground have to not know exactly when we’re coming back,” Suni said.

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 DHS arrests another student involved in Columbia university protests on immigration charges (ABC)

📌 Big March storm system threatens US with tornadoes, blizzards and wildfire risk (AP)

📌 Dr. Oz Testifies at Confirmation Hearing (C-SPAN)

📌 Migrants held In Guantánamo flown back to U.S. after facility & budget shortfalls (MO NEWS)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Hamas agrees to release Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage (FOX)

📌 China, Russia back Iran as Trump presses Tehran for nuclear talks (AP)

📌 A U.S. influencer outrages Australians by snatching a baby wombat from its mom (NPR)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 After canceling meeting of independent advisers, FDA issues 2025-26 flu vaccine recommendations (CNN)

📌 Gold reaches $3,000 as trade war escalates, economic uncertainty rises (MO NEWS)

📌 FTC asks to delay Amazon trial over 'dire' resources, then quickly backtracks (NPR)

📌 Apple will soon support encrypted RCS messaging with Android users (VERGE)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 March Madness Brackets Released Sunday: A Preview (NPR)

📌 Warriors star Stephen Curry makes history with 4,000th career 3-pointer (NBA)

📌 Dwyane Wade opens up about kidney cancer diagnosis and urges proactivity with health concerns (CNN)

📌 ‘Freakier Friday’ trailer: Jamie Lee Curtis & Lindsay Lohan return 22 years later (DEADLINE)

ICYMI FROM THE 📲

In case you missed it… because you were sleeping 🙂, here’s last night’s Blood Moon total lunar eclipse. The next one will be in March 2026.

Guest User
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