Last Week in Congress (10/20–10/24/25)
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.
The federal government shutdown continued into its fourth week, with many furloughed and excepted federal employees missing their first complete paycheck.
The Senate took its 11th and 12th procedural votes on the GOP-backed continuing resolution, but failed to advance it. But for pro forma meetings, Speaker Johnson has dismissed the House pending Senate action on the continuing resolution.
Following shakeups in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Career and Technical Education (OCTAE), and after receiving a job promotion in Florida, Kevin O’Farrell withdrew his nomination to lead OCTAE.
· H.R. 5799 (Garcia, D-CA), to amend chapter 4 of title 5, United States Code, to require cooperation with Inspector General requests (Oversight and Government Reform).
· H.R. 5806 (Smith, D-WA), the Pre-Apprenticeship Wrap-around Support Services Fund Act of 2025, to direct the Secretary of Labor to make grants to eligible applicants to provide stipends to individuals enrolled in a pre-apprenticeship program (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 5807 (Smith, D-WA), the Empowering Individuals to Succeed Through Education and Workforce Training Act, to amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to establish a fund to provide support services for individuals participating in certain training activities under such Act (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 5812 (Baumgartner, (R-WA), the Correcting Opportunity and Accountability in Collegiate Hiring (COACH) Act, to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to cap certain intercollegiate athletics compensation and buyouts as a condition of institutional participation in Federal student aid programs (Education and Workforce).
· S. 3040 (Klobuchar, D-MN), the Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship Opportunity Act of 2025, to amend title 38, United States Code, to modify the requirements of the Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship (Veterans’ Affairs).
· S. 3052 (Cornyn, R-TX), to promote recruiter access to secondary schools (Armed Services).
· The Senate continued to consider H.R. 5371, the GOP continuing resolution bill to extend funding of the federal government through November 21 or the passage of a complete appropriations package. On October 20, the Senate (50 yeas to 43 nays) rejected the motion to close further debate on the motion to proceed to consideration. On October 21, the Senate rejected the same motion, 54 yeas to 46 nays.
· On October 21, the Senate received notification of withdrawal of the nomination Kevin O’Farrell, of Florida, to be Assistant Secretary for Career, Technical, and Adult Education, Department of Education. The nomination was originally received on February 11, 2025.