Cornell has continued a costly year in Washington, reporting $240,000 in federal lobbying expenditures for the third quarter of 2025, according to its latest filing with the U.S. Senate.
This figure comes on the heels of a record-high second-quarter and puts year-to-date spending at more than $900,000, making it the second-highest spending Ivy thus far.
The report says Cornell met with House of Representatives offices, Senate offices and the White House to advocate for Fiscal Year 2026 funding across a wide slate, including land-grant agriculture programs and collaborations with multiple government agencies like the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation.
Beyond new appropriations, the University urged agencies to spend already-appropriated Fiscal Year 2025 funds and briefed government offices on the impact of canceled or frozen grants, according to the report. These issues reflect ongoing financial strain on campus.
The University also made efforts to “encourage passage of a continuing resolution” to keep the government open before the Oct. 1 shutdown, according to the report.
In an early October interview with The Sun, President Michael Kotlikoff and Provost Kavita Bala described that roughly $250 million in projects have been affected by stop-work orders and terminations, and that Cornell is continuing to press federal officials on issues including the endowment tax, NIH budgets and research funding. Additionally, about $80 million is yet to be reimbursed to the University in federal grant spending.
While Cornell’s Q3 spending was middle-of-the-road for the Ivies, the University’s year-to-date total ranks behind only Yale’s, according to a Sun analysis.
Cornell maintained its relationship with Miller Strategies this quarter, according to the report. Miller Strategies was founded by Jeffrey Miller, who previously served as finance chair of the 60th Presidential Inauguration of President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance.
Cornell paid the firm $80,000 in the third quarter to advocate on policy matters “related to oversight of institutions of Higher Education” after paying them $140,000 last quarter.
Kotlikoff described the University’s lobbying efforts as a “consultative process” involving “the Board [of Trustees], the provost, me, our chief counsel [and] certainly our University Relations vice president.”
“All of that is part of thinking about what would be effective, how to effectively represent the University,” Kotlikoff told The Sun.
Cornell’s quarter four report is due Jan. 20.
“I think the lobbying that we've undertaken has really provided us with the ability to send our message to individuals around what Cornell is, what Cornell supports, how it doesn't engage in discrimination,” Kotlikoff told The Sun. “Has that been successful so far in terms of an agreement with the federal government? Not yet, but we'll see.”
Anant Srinivasan is a member of the Class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is a staff writer for the News department and can be reached at asrinivasan@cornellsun.com.
