Budget

Facing unexpected budget shortfalls, federal physics labs across the country are cutting back operations and hoping for a break in the next funding cycle.

In last State of the Union, president takes two steps to limit lawmakers' pet projects for colleges and other recipients -- starting next year.

Bush's 2009 budget plan would lift maximum Pell Grant to $4,800, kill other aid programs -- and slash funds for minority-serving colleges that gained in last fall's budget measure.

President Bush's proposed budget for basic research and development in the 2009 fiscal year seeks a record $147 billion, a 3 percent increase over 2008 that would elevate the physical sciences and engineering, in particular, while keeping funding for the National Institutes of Health flat and scaling back or cutting other domestic programs, including for financial aid.

Advocates for more federal spending on basic research discovered a pleasant surprise in the 2009 budget proposal: a boost from the Department of Defense.

She appeared for the final time before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies to defend President Bush's final education budget. And as farewell receptions go, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings' wasn't particularly warm.

"I don't know what you guys are smoking over there," said Rep. Dennis Rehberg of Montana.

Six research universities and a teaching hospital warn of a "broken pipeline" for young researchers in the biomedical sciences.

All 3 remaining presidential candidates back a moratorium, but many colleges still view such directed spending as legitimate.

Annual Pig Book report reveals some $17.2 billion in earmarked spending this fiscal year, with plenty of it to go around for higher education.

Despite a veto threat from President Bush and with the presumptive Republican candidate to replace him in absentia, the U.S. Senate on Thursday approved legislation that would dramatically enhance educational benefits for veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. And it did so, supporters of the measure were quick to note, by a margin (75-22) that could comfortably override the president's veto. The legislation will now go back to the House, which passed a parallel bill last month but failed to muster a similar veto-proof margin.