DC Insight - 3/3/2023

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House GOP Appropriators Unveil Tighter Earmark Rules
Roll Call – February 28, 2023
House Republican appropriators have banned earmarks from the Labor-HHS-Education, Financial Services and Defense bills and cut the cap on "community project funding" in half in new rules regulating the process on that side of the Capitol.

Fiscal Year 2024 Member Request Guidance
House Committee on Appropriations – February 28, 2023
This week, the House Committee on Appropriations released fiscal year 2024 member request guidance. In their guidance, the Appropriations Committee provided information on programmatic, community project funding, and language requests with additional submission deadlines.

Republicans See Conflict in Biden Push for Critical Minerals
Roll Call – February 28, 2023
Both parties agree that the U.S. will need more critical minerals to fuel the expansion of clean energy, but recent actions from the Biden administration blocking two major mining projects have drawn Republican criticism that it will be unable to meet future demand. 

How The National Science Foundation Is Dealing with a Big Budget Increase
Federal News Network - February 24, 2023
Thanks to last year’s legislation to help the semiconductor industry, the National Science Foundation was given $9.9 billion in its record budget for fiscal 2023. Already, the NSF has widened its collaboration with the Energy Department, established partnerships with four big semiconductor companies, and even launched a new artificial intelligence institute devoted to speech pathology.

Top Takeaways from Student Loan Forgiveness Arguments at The Supreme Court
The Hill – February 28, 2023
The debate over President Biden’s student loan relief for millions of Americans came to a head on Tuesday as Supreme Court justices grilled the administration and its challengers during oral arguments.