Federal courts and Congress are intervening after the Education Department canceled or moved multiple grant programs last year. A federal judge ordered the department to reconsider its cancellations of TRIO grants, ruling officials didn’t provide sufficient statutory justification. At the same time lawmakers in both chambers moved to reject proposed deep cuts to research funding, advancing bipartisan measures that would restore much of the agency support the administration sought to trim. The court order requires the Education Department to revisit its decision-making processes and documentation on TRIO grants, a key pipeline program for disadvantaged students. Congress’s push to preserve research budgets also blocks immediate implementation of proposed indirect‑cost rate caps that would have reduced university overhead recovery on sponsored projects. Universities with large TRIO and research portfolios called the interventions a critical reprieve but warned the litigation and budget fights will prolong uncertainty. Research offices and sponsored‑programs administrators say they must plan for multiple contingencies while grant awards and regulations are litigated or amended.