U.S. representatives press NIST for answers on limits to international researchers, citing Boulder Reporting Lab’s reporting

Following exclusive reporting by Boulder Reporting Lab, two members of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology sent a Feb. 19 letter to Acting Director Craig Burkhardt of the of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, asking him to explain whether and how NIST was implementing policies to limit work with foreign nationals.

Reps. Zoe Lofgren of California and April McClain Delaney of Maryland cited Boulder Reporting Lab’s reporting in their letter, writing that after weeks of “rumors of draconian new measures,” during which time congressional staff inquiries went unanswered, “an article was published on February 12, 2026, describing an alleged new three-year limit on international graduate students and postdoctoral researchers working at NIST.”

“This effectively prevents any foreign student from being able to complete a doctorate at NIST and would cut the United States off from the cutting-edge research that promising graduate students have to offer,” they wrote.

The policies, first reported by the Boulder Reporting Lab on Feb. 12, would cap lab access for any international researchers working with NIST through a collaboration with universities called the Professional Research Experience Program, and would require the agreements granting them lab access to be reviewed by Acting Director Burkhardt.

Institute sources say the changes could force hundreds of scientists out of the federal lab, which houses one of its two main campuses in Boulder. Both the representatives and researchers within NIST said the policy represents a major loss for the 125-year-old lab, which advances “measurement science,” work that underpins nearly every sector of modern life.

Sources estimated that the policies took effect in late January, just after another rule was put in place restricting after-hours access to the lab for all non-citizens.

Foreign national associates cannot enter the lab on weekends, federal holidays or any time after 7 p.m. unless escorted by a federal employee, according to an internal source who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

Reps. Lofgren and Delaney told Burkhardt that NIST must cease implementation of these policies until Congress can weigh in on whether they are necessary.

Reps. Lofgren and Delaney wrote that they had asked NIST staff on Jan. 28 to answer questions about whether policies related to foreign nationals were changing and, if so, how that was being communicated to NIST staff and affiliates. They gave NIST a deadline of Feb. 13 to respond, and did not receive answers.

“The rollout of this rumored new policy — if it is possible to call something so vague and poorly communicated a ‘policy’ — has been cloaked in secrecy and has left NIST scientists and visiting researchers in the dark,” they wrote. 

Researchers within NIST said that no written policies had been distributed to researchers, and most changes were conveyed verbally down the chain of command.

One said she believed the communication felt “purposefully nebulous” in order to make the changes harder to oppose.

The representatives also asked Burkhardt to provide House science committee staff with a briefing on any personnel or contract changes by Feb. 25, citing a rule that gives the committee jurisdiction over “all federally owned or operated nonmilitary energy laboratories,” including NIST.