Congressional appropriators released a bipartisan spending package this week that refuses the Trump administration’s proposed deep cuts to the Department of Education and the National Institutes of Health. Lawmakers in both chambers set discretionary Education funding near $79 billion and signaled they will not cap NIH indirect-cost rates, reversing major White House priorities. The bills move quickly toward floor votes as negotiators race to meet a Jan. 30 funding deadline. House and Senate backers framed the package as a direct response to the administration’s proposed program eliminations and large research cuts. The measure preserves Title I, Pell and several access programs that the administration sought to shrink or abolish, and it keeps NIH and NSF budgets roughly level to last year—blocking proposed steep reductions. Congressional aides warned implementation details will be litigated, but the topline holds for now. For colleges and university research offices the decision buys time: pending grant cancellations and indirect-cost threats will not be enacted immediately, easing planning for FY2026. Federal higher-education officials and university CFOs still expect turbulence as the White House presses other administrative changes, but the bipartisan bill reduces the near-term fiscal cliff risk for many campuses.