http://www.insidehighered.com/sites/all/themes/ihecustom/logo.jpgBy Michael Stratford. As Congress resumed negotiations on the federal budget this week, higher education advocates are once again pressing lawmakers to end automatic spending cuts, which they’ve said are devastating to scientific research. Representatives from both chambers and political parties gathered on Wednesday for the first formal budget talks since Congress reached an agreement earlier this month to reopen the government after a 16-day shutdown and to temporarily raise the nation’s borrowing authority. Read more...