Last Week in Congress (1/20–1/23/26)
An update will be shared every week that Congress is in session. This will include a short summary of the past week in Congress, as well as a listing of all education-related bills introduced in the House and Senate, relevant Committee and Floor activity, and education-related hearings.
As much of the country digs out from this weekend’s winter storm, the Senate is staring down an ICE storm of its own. Last week, the House passed two funding bills—H.R. 7148, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes funding for the Department of Education, and H.R. 7147, which funds the Department of Homeland Security. Bundled together and sent to the Senate, the package was expected to move quickly. Instead, mounting outrage over ICE actions in Minnesota and across the country has upended the timeline, putting the Senate on a collision course with a partial government shutdown if funding lapses on January 30.
· H.R. 7147 (Cole, R-OK), Making further consolidated appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026 (funding for Department of Homeland Security) (Appropriations; Budget) (H. Rept. 119–462).
· H.R. 7148 (Cole, R-OK), Consolidated Appropriations Act (Departments of Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies) (Appropriations; Budget; Ways and Means) (H. Rept. 119–462).
· H.R. 7152 (Barragán (D-CA), to provide technical assistance and grants for faith-based organizations, institutions of higher education, and local governments to increase the supply of affordable rental housing (Financial Services).
· H.R. 7157 (Fields, D-LA), to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude from gross income up to the first $50,000 wages from employment as a K-12 public school teacher (Ways and Means).
· H.R. 7158 (Foushee, D-NC), to support a broad and diverse interdisciplinary research community for the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-powered innovation through partnerships and capacity building at certain institutions of higher education and other institutions to expand AI capacity in populations historically underrepresented in STEM (Science, Space, and Technology).
· H.R. 7168 (Kean, R-NJ), to direct the Secretary of Education to develop standards for fire suppression systems in dormitories and other residential facilities for students on the campuses of institutions of higher education that receive Federal education funding (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 7183 (Lynch, D-MA), to improve the financial literacy of secondary school students (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 7201 (Bynum, D-OR), to establish a program to fill critical rural workforce shortages through an education assistance and loan repayment in exchange for service in designated rural areas (Agriculture; Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 7202 (Bynum, D-OR), to direct the Secretary of Education to carry out a grant program to support signing and retention bonuses for teachers in rural schools (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 7204 (Bynum, D-OR), to direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a grant program to increase the use of stop-arm safety camera technology on school buses (Transportation and Infrastructure; Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 7205 (Bynum, D-OR), to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit fees for admissions applications to higher education institutions to be paid from a 529 plan (Ways and Means).
· H.R. 7213 (Grothman, R-WI), to restrict certain Federal assistance benefits to individuals verified to be citizens of the United States (Oversight and Government Reform).
· H.R. 7218 (Lawler, R-NY), to require artificial intelligence chatbots to implement age verification measures and establish certain protections for minors (Energy and Commerce).
· H.R. 7232 (Stevens, D-MI), to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide a student loan allowance calculation for purposes of determining the student aid index (Education and Workforce).
The Senate was out of session last week.
· On January 16, the House Rules Committee held a hearing that included discussion of H.R. 6945, the “Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act” and H.R. 6359, the “Pregnant Students' Rights Act.” The Committee, by a record vote of 8-3, granted a rule providing for consideration of the bills, as amended.
· On January 21, the House Committee on Education and Workforce held a full committee markup on H.R. 7082, the “Fostering Learning and Excellence in Charter Schools (FLEX) Act” and H.R. 7086, the “Equitable Access to School Facilities Act.” The bills were ordered reported, as amended.
· On January 21, the House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance, held a hearing entitled “When Public Funds Are Abused: Addressing Fraud and the Theft of Taxpayer Dollars.”
· On January 21–22, the House Committee on Rules held a hearing on H.R. 7148, the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026” (including funding for the Department of Education) and H.R. 7147, the “Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2026.”
· On January 21, the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, held a hearing on a number of bills, including H.R. 5436, to amend title 38, United States Code, to prohibit an educational institution from withholding a transcript from an individual who pursued a course or program of education at such institution using Post-9/11 educational assistance.
· On January 21, the House passed H.R. 6945, the “Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act” to amend part A of title IV of the Social Security Act to clarify the authority of States to use funds for pregnancy centers, by a yea-and-nay vote of 215 yeas to 209 nays.
· On January 22, the House passed H.R. 7147 (funding for Department of Homeland Security), making further consolidated appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026, by a yea-and-nay vote of 220 yeas to 207 nays.
· On January 22, the House passed H.R. 7148 (Appropriations, including funding for the Department of Education), making further consolidated appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026, by a yea-and-nay vote of 341 yeas to 88 nays.
· On January 22, the House passed H.R. 6359 (The Pregnant Students’ Rights Act), to require institutions of higher education to disseminate information on the rights of, and accommodations and resources for, pregnant students, by a yea-and-nay vote of 217 yeas to 211 nays.