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Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Health
- Miami Herald
Trump administration threat to end Harvard contracts puts research at risk
May 30 (UPI) -- The Trump administration is seeking to end all contracts it has with Harvard University, a move that adds to the strain between the federal government and America's researchers. The administration announced on Tuesday that it is in the process of reviewing its contracts with Harvard in preparation for their termination. The move may cost the United States a generation of top researchers, Sarah Spreitzer, vice president and chief of staff in the American Council of Education's government relations department, told UPI. "We're going to lose grad students or post-docs that might have been educated in those federally funded labs," Spreitzer said. "The undergrads are going to lose the opportunity of working alongside those researchers and learning from their work." Harvard has contracts partnering with government departments including NASA, Veterans Affairs, the Office of the Secretary in the Department of Commerce and the Small Business Administration. Dozens of these contracts have been entered into, extended or otherwise updated since President Donald Trump took office. Harvard University did not respond to requests for comment from UPI. One of the largest contracts Harvard holds with the government is a $15 million contract from the Department of Health and Human Services. It is described in the Federal Procurement Data System as a "task order for human organ chip enabled development of radiation countermeasures." It was entered into on July 26. Another of its largest contracts is a $10.6 million contract with the National Institutes of Health for tuberculosis research. Harvard holds more than one contract with the government related to this work. "They want to do more with less," Spreitzer said of the Trump administration. "They're making decisions based on budgetary impacts but that's layered on top of some of the regulatory actions that they are taking, which is really, again, slowing down or completely stalling the scientific process." The Trump administration has cut research funding grants to several universities, many of them Ivy League schools. It has also made cuts to programs in the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, among others that offer grant opportunities to universities. Since World War II, the U.S. government has leaned on universities to expand its research capabilities, leading to innovations in health, technology, economics and other disciplines. Spreitzer, who has been an advocate for higher education for 20 years. In that time she said she has interacted with nearly every federal agency, said the partnership has advanced the interests of the government and delivered value to U.S. taxpayers. "Right now we are at this historical inflection point where the federal government is rethinking their partnership with our institutions of higher education," she said. "It's been a very profitable and very important partnership that's helped the entire United States. Whether you're talking about new drugs or medical research or the innovative products that might be spun out and have created jobs." The rethinking of the partnership between the government and universities goes beyond contracts and grants. It is also proposing a lower cap on its reimbursement to universities for indirect costs or facilities and administrative costs. These are overhead expenses that an institution has that are not related to specific projects, such as government-funded research. Prior to the current Trump administration, the National Institutes of Health reimbursed an average of 27% to 28% of direct costs to universities to help cover indirect costs. These rates were negotiated with some institutions being reimbursed at rates more than 50%. There has not been a cap on most reimbursements since Congress removed them in 1965. In February, the National Institutes of Health announced a new policy to cap these reimbursements at 15%. The American Council on Education filed a lawsuit seeking to block the proposed cap, warning that it would greatly disrupt research across the country. Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs granted a preliminary injunction against the Department of Energy from instituting a rate cap policy. The injunction succeeds a temporary restraining order Burroughs granted against the administration, shielding all institutions of higher education from rate caps. "It would have a huge impact on our institutions," Spreitzer said. "They've also made huge cuts in some of the fellowship programs. Whether it's the fellowship program for the next generation of NSF scientists or whether it's the Fulbright program -- those have all been suddenly stopped." Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump administration threat to end Harvard contracts puts research at risk
May 30 (UPI) -- The Trump administration is seeking to end all contracts it has with Harvard University, a move that adds to the strain between the federal government and America's researchers. The administration announced on Tuesday that it is in the process of reviewing its contracts with Harvard in preparation for their termination. The move may cost the United States a generation of top researchers, Sarah Spreitzer, vice president and chief of staff in the American Council of Education's government relations department, told UPI. "We're going to lose grad students or post-docs that might have been educated in those federally funded labs," Spreitzer said. "The undergrads are going to lose the opportunity of working alongside those researchers and learning from their work." Harvard has contracts partnering with government departments including NASA, Veterans Affairs, the Office of the Secretary in the Department of Commerce and the Small Business Administration. Dozens of these contracts have been entered into, extended or otherwise updated since President Donald Trump took office. Harvard University did not respond to requests for comment from UPI. One of the largest contracts Harvard holds with the government is a $15 million contract from the Department of Health and Human Services. It is described in the Federal Procurement Data System as a "task order for human organ chip enabled development of radiation countermeasures." It was entered into on July 26. Another of its largest contracts is a $10.6 million contract with the National Institutes of Health for tuberculosis research. Harvard holds more than one contract with the government related to this work. "They want to do more with less," Spreitzer said of the Trump administration. "They're making decisions based on budgetary impacts but that's layered on top of some of the regulatory actions that they are taking, which is really, again, slowing down or completely stalling the scientific process." The Trump administration has cut research funding grants to several universities, many of them Ivy League schools. It has also made cuts to programs in the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, among others that offer grant opportunities to universities. Since World War II, the U.S. government has leaned on universities to expand its research capabilities, leading to innovations in health, technology, economics and other disciplines. Spreitzer, who has been an advocate for higher education for 20 years. In that time she said she has interacted with nearly every federal agency, said the partnership has advanced the interests of the government and delivered value to U.S. taxpayers. "Right now we are at this historical inflection point where the federal government is rethinking their partnership with our institutions of higher education," she said. "It's been a very profitable and very important partnership that's helped the entire United States. Whether you're talking about new drugs or medical research or the innovative products that might be spun out and have created jobs." The rethinking of the partnership between the government and universities goes beyond contracts and grants. It is also proposing a lower cap on its reimbursement to universities for indirect costs or facilities and administrative costs. These are overhead expenses that an institution has that are not related to specific projects, such as government-funded research. Prior to the current Trump administration, the National Institutes of Health reimbursed an average of 27% to 28% of direct costs to universities to help cover indirect costs. These rates were negotiated with some institutions being reimbursed at rates more than 50%. There has not been a cap on most reimbursements since Congress removed them in 1965. In February, the National Institutes of Health announced a new policy to cap these reimbursements at 15%. The American Council on Education filed a lawsuit seeking to block the proposed cap, warning that it would greatly disrupt research across the country. Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs granted a preliminary injunction against the Department of Energy from instituting a rate cap policy. The injunction succeeds a temporary restraining order Burroughs granted against the administration, shielding all institutions of higher education from rate caps. "It would have a huge impact on our institutions," Spreitzer said. "They've also made huge cuts in some of the fellowship programs. Whether it's the fellowship program for the next generation of NSF scientists or whether it's the Fulbright program -- those have all been suddenly stopped."
UPI
3 days ago
- Health
- UPI
Trump administration threat to end Harvard contracts puts research at risk
1 of 2 | The Trump administration is seeking to end all contracts it has with Harvard University, a move that adds to the strain between the federal government and America's researchers. Photo by CJ Gunther/EPA-EFE May 30 (UPI) -- The Trump administration is seeking to end all contracts it has with Harvard University, a move that adds to the strain between the federal government and America's researchers. The administration announced on Tuesday that it is in the process of reviewing its contracts with Harvard in preparation for their termination. The move may cost the United States a generation of top researchers, Sarah Spreitzer, vice president and chief of staff in the American Council of Education's government relations department, told UPI. "We're going to lose grad students or post-docs that might have been educated in those federally funded labs," Spreitzer said. "The undergrads are going to lose the opportunity of working alongside those researchers and learning from their work." Harvard has contracts partnering with government departments including NASA, Veterans Affairs, the Office of the Secretary in the Department of Commerce and the Small Business Administration. Dozens of these contracts have been entered into, extended or otherwise updated since President Donald Trump took office. Harvard University did not respond to requests for comment from UPI. One of the largest contracts Harvard holds with the government is a $15 million contract from the Department of Health and Human Services. It is described in the Federal Procurement Data System as a "task order for human organ chip enabled development of radiation countermeasures." It was entered into on July 26. Another of its largest contracts is a $10.6 million contract with the National Institutes of Health for tuberculosis research. Harvard holds more than one contract with the government related to this work. "They want to do more with less," Spreitzer said of the Trump administration. "They're making decisions based on budgetary impacts but that's layered on top of some of the regulatory actions that they are taking, which is really, again, slowing down or completely stalling the scientific process." The Trump administration has cut research funding grants to several universities, many of them Ivy League schools. It has also made cuts to programs in the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, among others that offer grant opportunities to universities. Since World War II, the U.S. government has leaned on universities to expand its research capabilities, leading to innovations in health, technology, economics and other disciplines. Spreitzer, who has been an advocate for higher education for 20 years. In that time she said she has interacted with nearly every federal agency, said the partnership has advanced the interests of the government and delivered value to U.S. taxpayers. "Right now we are at this historical inflection point where the federal government is rethinking their partnership with our institutions of higher education," she said. "It's been a very profitable and very important partnership that's helped the entire United States. Whether you're talking about new drugs or medical research or the innovative products that might be spun out and have created jobs." The rethinking of the partnership between the government and universities goes beyond contracts and grants. It is also proposing a lower cap on its reimbursement to universities for indirect costs or facilities and administrative costs. These are overhead expenses that an institution has that are not related to specific projects, such as government-funded research. Prior to the current Trump administration, the National Institutes of Health reimbursed an average of 27% to 28% of direct costs to universities to help cover indirect costs. These rates were negotiated with some institutions being reimbursed at rates more than 50%. There has not been a cap on most reimbursements since Congress removed them in 1965. In February, the National Institutes of Health announced a new policy to cap these reimbursements at 15%. The American Council on Education filed a lawsuit seeking to block the proposed cap, warning that it would greatly disrupt research across the country. Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs granted a preliminary injunction against the Department of Energy from instituting a rate cap policy. The injunction succeeds a temporary restraining order Burroughs granted against the administration, shielding all institutions of higher education from rate caps. "It would have a huge impact on our institutions," Spreitzer said. "They've also made huge cuts in some of the fellowship programs. Whether it's the fellowship program for the next generation of NSF scientists or whether it's the Fulbright program -- those have all been suddenly stopped."
Miami Herald
04-05-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Education Department restarts online library ERIC
The U.S. Department of Education announced Monday that it would continue to operate its online library, known as ERIC, after allowing it to lapse last week. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) had sought significant cuts to the document repository that is used by 14 million people a year, and allowed funding to run out on April 23. That ended the ability of the Education Department to add new research reports and documents to the library that is used by education policymakers, researchers and teachers. "We are dedicated to sharing knowledge about the condition of education and 'what works' to improve student achievement," said Matthew Soldner, the acting director of the Institute of Education Sciences, in announcing the continuation of the ERIC. A new, albeit much smaller contract was signed on April 24, according to the Federal Procurement Data System. Soldner said that "no content has been removed or deleted from ERIC." He added that the "preservation policy is unchanged: we will not remove an article in ERIC unless it is retracted by the publisher." Related: Our free weekly newsletter alerts you to what research says about schools and classrooms. "I'm so happy!" said Erin Pollard Young, who had brought public attention to the fate of the library in an interview with The Hechinger Report, published on April 21. Pollard Young had been the sole Education Department employee who managed ERIC until her job was eliminated in March. Nearly all of the work in operating the library is conducted by an outside contractor, AEM Corp. Going forward, ERIC's $5.5 million annual budget has been cut by 50 percent. That will reduce the number of new papers and reports that can be added to the database and eliminate the helpdesk for the public. Related: A treasure trove of education reports and studies is under threat Contact staff writer Jill Barshay at 212-678-3595, jillbarshay.35 on Signal, or barshay@ This story about restarting ERIC was written by Jill Barshay and produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Proof Points and other Hechinger newsletters. The post Education Department restarts online library ERIC appeared first on The Hechinger Report.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Fact Check: Marjorie Taylor Greene bought Palantir shares days before ICE awarded the company a $30M contract
Claim: U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, bought shares of Palantir Technologies days before the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced a $30 million contract with the company. Rating: Context: Though Greene made public those trades, we could not determine whether she ordered them herself or whether her portfolio manager made that decision without her input. At the end of April 2025, a rumor began to spread that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, had bought shares of Palantir Technologies — a company that sells data analytics platforms for intelligence gathering and surveillance — days before U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced it awarded a $30 million contract to the company. One user shared the claim and underscored the fact that Greene sits on the House Committee on Homeland Security, which oversees the agency of which ICE is a part, adding that Palantir's stock had soared since she made the trade (archived) in a post reading, "This is pretty wild. Marjorie Taylor Greene bought stock in Palantir on April 8th. On April 17th, a $30M deal between Palantir and ICE was announced. Greene sits on the House Committee on Homeland Security. The stock has now risen 48% in the three weeks since her purchase." As of this writing, the post had garnered 4.4 million views and 29,000 likes. Other X posts relayed the same rumor. Indeed, a review of Greene's financial disclosures revealed that Palantir stock was purchased in her name in early April, days before ICE announced it had contracted Palantir for its activities. Further, Palantir's stock increased 60% from the day she acquired the shares to May 2, 2025. For this reason, we have deemed the claim true. However, it is unclear whether Greene specifically acquired the shares herself or whether someone else manages her portfolio on her behalf. And even if Greene directly made the trades, it's not clear whether she acted on knowledge that such an announcement was in the works. Snopes contacted Greene's office inquiring about the details of this transaction and will update the story should a member of her staff respond. According to Capitol Trades — a database that compiles all of the trades elected officials make — Greene acquired Palantir shares on April 7 and April 8, 2025. The disclosure reveals that she acquired between $1,000 and $15,000 of the shares for $77.32 a share on April 7 and $92.01 a share on April 8. The stock price had reached $124 a share at 2:38 p.m. on May 2, 2025. This represented a 60% increase from the first trade and a 34.8% increase from the second trade. In addition, a search of the Federal Procurement Data System revealed that on April 11, 2025, ICE contracted Palantir for a surveillance system designed to prioritize people for deportation based on criminal activity and "visa overstay," track self-deportations and identify immigrants for deportation. ICE awarded Palantir $29,898,236 for this system. The deal was made public on April 17, 2025. ICE has contracted Palantir since 2022. However, while several posts implied Greene's trades may have constituted insider trading, Snopes was unable to verify either that she had advance knowledge of the deal or that she even managed her portfolio herself. Indeed, while Greene sits on the House Committee on Homeland Security, she does not sit on the subcommittee that oversees ICE. Instead, she is a member of the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, which oversees "the Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A), the U.S. Secret Service (USSS), the Federal Protective Service (FPS), the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC), and the Office of Operations Coordination (OPS)." The U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934 prohibits trading on potential market-moving information that hasn't been made public, known as insider trading. However, proving intent is key in such court proceedings. Palantir was due to announce its first-quarter results on May 5, 2025. As of this writing, analysts forecast that the company's earnings had climbed 36% compared to the first quarter of 2024 to $863 million. Cornell Law School. "Insider Trading." Legal Information Institute, 2019, Accessed 2 May 2025. Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence – Committee on Homeland Security. "Federal Procurement Data System - next Generation." "FPDS-NG EzSearch." 2025, Accessed 2 May 2025. Group, Hester Law. "What Factors Constitute Insider Trading?" Hester Law Group, 8 Aug. 2024, Accessed 2 May 2025. "Marjorie Taylor Greene Bought Palantir Technologies Inc (PLTR:US) on 2025-04-08." 2025, Accessed 2 May 2025. Members – Committee on Homeland Security. Moz Farooque. "Palantir Poised to Crush Q1 Estimates." Yahoo Finance, 2 May 2025, Accessed 2 May 2025. "Palantir Granted $30 Million to Build 'ImmigrationOS' Surveillance Platform for ICE | Immigration Policy Tracking Project." 17 Apr. 2025, Accessed 2 May 2025.
