According to a recently filed disclosure, Penn lobbied the federal government on multiple issues including National Institutes of Health funding, research, graduate medical education, and general matters pertaining to higher education and international students.

Several business owners and managers speculated to The Daily Pennsylvanian that recent business closures have come as a result of rapidly and consistently increasing rent rates set by Penn. 

Penn currently has eight active NEH grants, covering a variety of research areas including renovations to the Penn Museum, literature analysis for low resource languages, and AI applications in archaeology.

A 2023 tax document shows that Canary Mission — a website that “may be providing road maps for ICE” — received $100,000 from the spouse of a Penn trustee’s family foundation.

Ten weeks into Trump’s second presidential term, The Daily Pennsylvanian compiled the impacts of federal policy changes on Penn and examined how the University has responded.

Penn — which has previously faced congressional scrutiny over its foreign financial ties — may be affected if the DETERRENT Act is signed into law. 

As federal actions continue to target higher education institutions — including Penn — local politicians urged the University to take legal action to protect its community members.

Jameson wrote in the March 25 email that researchers across seven of Penn’s schools were notified that their federally contracted research was halted. 

The March 11 letter, titled ‘Not in Our Name,’ has been signed by nearly 3000 signatories — including 34 from Penn — at the time of publication.

Dean of the Annenberg School for Communication Sarah Banet-Weiser notified the lecturers of the decision in an email sent on March 19.

As nationwide anxiety surrounding higher education mounts, the DP used United States Department of the Treasury data to measure federal funding distributed to Penn and its affiliates in fiscal year 2024. 

Senior Penn administrators announced six University-wide financial measures to protect Penn's "core principles and support existing people and programs" in an email on Monday. 

Distributed by the Provost's office, the UA 2025-26 budget totals over $3 million, marking around a 2% increase from the previous academic year. 

The letter expressed concerns about the negative effects of reducing graduate program class sizes, and argued that the cuts may inflict "reputational harms" on Penn.

Senior Associate Vice President for Research Elizabeth Peloso wrote in an affidavit that Penn has 1,803 active NIH awards — amounting to a total of $2.6 billion — across its research system.

Despite a judge temporarily halting changes to the funding policy after Penn and 12 other universities sued the NIH, researchers say the future of their work remains uncertain.

The book, set for release on May 6, will include accounts of the “battle for control” that took place at Penn in fall 2023.