Both the House and Senate are in recess, which means Washington is pulling the Magic 8-Balls out of our dusty childhood closets and trying to predict what’s coming next.

The big questions? Appropriations and the midterms.

At this point, it looks increasingly likely that we’ll be operating under another continuing resolution (CR). But that raises some very consequential questions:

• Will the CR include the proposed delay to the Uniform Guidance changes?

• Will the larger Senate package include the Kaine-Collins-Murkowski provision prohibiting the transfer of certain Department of Education offices and programs?

• And, of course, what else gets tucked into the legislation before Congress heads back to town?

August recess is usually a good time to take a breath. This year, it feels more like the calm before the legislative storm.

Stay tuned. The Magic 8-Ball is still shaking.

Last week, the Senate passed the Continuing Appropriations and Extension Act, 2027, which would continue funding through December 11, 2027. Section 157 of the bill would also delay implementation of OMB’s proposed changes to the Uniform Guidance until December 11. Introduced legislation also hints at looming separation of powers concerns with respect to Executive discretion and Congress’ control over the power of the purse: H.R. 10014 “Restoring Accountability in Appropriations Act” seeks to establish private and congressional rights of action for withholding of federal funds that are not disbursed in line with Congressional authority. 

The Senate Appropriations Committee introduced its Continuing Resolution proposal on Sunday, August 2, which, in the very likely event that a full appropriations package for FY2027 is not enacted by rapidly-approaching end of the fiscal year, would provide continued funding through December 11, 2026. Section 157 of the Continuing Resolution would temporarily pause the implementation of the Office of Management and Budget’s revisions to the Uniform Guidance regulations. In releasing the bill, Chairwoman Collins (R-ME) stated “I am also pleased that this bipartisan agreement prevents the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)’s proposed rule regarding federal financial assistance from taking effect. I advocated for significant changes to the proposed rule in a July 6 letter to the agency, citing its potential to politicize grants and harm small, rural communities, families, and biomedical research.” Missing from the package is any mention of the bipartisan S. 5046 (Kaine, D-VA, Collins, R-ME, Murkowski, R-AK, Baldwin, D-WI, Hassan, D-NH), and Van Hollen, D-MD), which, as reported by the Senate HELP Committee on Thursday, would prohibit the transfer of certain offices out of the Department of Education.

Last week the U.S. Department of Education (ED) issued final rules changing federal civil rights oversight of schools and colleges. Both rules took effect immediately without proposed rules or an opportunity for public comment. In addition to making significant substantive changes, ED’s decision to bypass notice and comment raises a procedural question under the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA).

Last week Congress introduced a number of bills directly responding to administrative actions on issues including:

·       Department of Education reorganization;

·       Accreditation reform; and

·       Immigration and education.

The House also passed the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2027, which contains numerous education-related provisions and incorporates the SAVE America Act, which would require individuals to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote, and to require photo identification to vote, in federal elections.

On July 15, the House Education and Workforce Committee approved ten bills intended to begin codifying the Trump administration’s plan to move major Department of Education functions to other federal agencies. The bills would transfer statutory responsibilities involving federal student aid, K–12 programs, career and technical and adult education, foreign gift reporting, international education, foreign medical school accreditation, child care for student parents, Tribal and Native education programs, family engagement, and other higher education functions.

Last week, Republican members of the House Education and Workforce Committee introduced the "Less Bureaucracy, Better Education" legislative package, a series of bills that would codify — and even expand — the administration's efforts to reorganize the Department of Education by transferring statutory responsibilities to other federal agencies and reducing the Department's role in administering federal education programs.

Last week, the House Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government held an oversight hearing on the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Director Russell Vought faced questions about OMB's recently proposed rule, "Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance," which would amend the government-wide grant regulations at 2 CFR Part 200.

On June 25, Representative Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), along with 16 cosponsors, introduced H.Res. 1391, to Impeach Linda M. McMahon, Secretary of Education, for high crimes and misdemeanors. Specifically, the resolution finds that Secretary McMahon: (1) violated federal law by illegally transferring the operations of six offices under the Department of Education to other Federal agencies, fundamentally obstructing the ability of the Department to conduct statutory oversight and disperse Congressionally-appropriated funds; (2) knowingly and willfully made materially false statements during testimony before the United States Senate during hearings on February 13, 2025; (3) has breached the public trust by terminating approximately 2,000 employees at the Department, resulting in delayed disbursement of federal education funds.

On June 18, 2026, the Department of Justice's (DOJ’s) Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) issued a slip opinion titled Application of the Rehabilitation Act and Americans with Disabilities Act to State Institutionalization of Patients with Severe Mental Illness or Disabilities.‍ ‍

The opinion does not itself change the law. It supplies the executive branch's legal rationale for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and DOJ to rescind the integration regulations and provide a basis for retreating from prior enforcement positions, a prospect that matters acutely now that ED has announced partnerships under which HHS will take on an operational role in special education and rehabilitative services and DOJ will take on an operational role in civil rights enforcement.

Last Tuesday, the Department of Education announced four new interagency agreements (IAAs) that would, in part, move the functions and responsibilities of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services to the Department of Health and Human Services, and move the Office for Civil Rights and Student Privacy Policy Office to the Department of Justice.

On June 8, lacking anything better to do, the Senate agreed to S.Res. 757, designating June 11 as “National Seersucker Day,” designating every subsequent Thursday through August as “Seersucker Thursday,” and designating June 2026 as “Seersucker Appreciation Month.”

On June 4, the House Appropriations Committee released its FY2027 billfor the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee. The bill would provide a discretionary total of $70.7 billion to the Department of Education, which is approximately 10% below the FY2026 enacted level.

On May 29, 2026, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published a proposed rule that would make significant revisions to 2 CFR Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (commonly referred to as the Uniform Guidance).

Last week, the Senate was out of session and the House operated on a limited schedule. Despite the lighter legislative calendar, the House filed reports on two bills aimed at combating FAFSA fraud. These measures join a growing number of FAFSA-related anti-fraud proposals introduced in recent months, many of which align with the administration’s broader identity fraud prevention initiative announced in June 2025.

Last week, the Department of Justice announced a $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fundto “provide a systematic process to hear and redress claims of others who suffered weaponization and lawfare.” The announcement came as Mark Lieberman at Education Week reported that OMB has not apportioned $2 billionin funding that was appropriated in February for federal education programs.

This week, Secretary McMahon appeared before the House Education and Workforce Committee to defend proposed budget cuts for FY2027. The Secretary championed efforts to dismantle the Department by shifting programs to other agencies, which House Democrats criticized the strategy, arguing it lacks required congressional approval.

On May 1, the Department published Reimagining and Improving Student Education – Federal Student Loan Program Final Regulations. The rules, which implement provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, P.L. 119-21, and take effect on July 1, 2026, dramatically change certain aspects of the federal student loan program. One of the more controversial provisions of the regulations is the definition of “professional” and “graduate,” with the impact of categorization being significant disparities in new federal loan caps. Since P.L. 119-21 was passed last summer some members of Congress have been seeking to adjust those changes. So far, eight different bills have been introduced to either raise loan limits or shift the definition of “professional” to increase the number of students eligible for higher loan limits; two of those bills were introduced last week, but nothing has advanced yet.

On April 30, Sligo Law Group, the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, and Eimer Stahl LLP filed a motion for preliminary injunction in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois as the next step in an ongoing federal lawsuit on behalf of Afterschool for Children and Teens Now Illinois (ACT Now) and Metropolitan Family Services.