Last Week in Congress (11/3–11/7/25)
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.
Day 41 of the shutdown.
Late last night—just days after elections that brought significant Democratic gains nationwide—a bipartisan group of Senators announced a deal to fund the federal government through January 30. The deal, which also attaches three “regular” appropriations bills (none of which cover the Department of Education), still has to pass a number of procedural hurdles in the Senate and House before it makes its way to the President's desk.
The agreement doesn’t extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits Democrats sought but promises a December vote on the issue. It also includes back pay for furloughed federal employees—already guaranteed under a prior appropriations bill from the Trump administration. It also rescinds the shutdown RIFs of federal employees and pledges to not make additional RIFs until the end of January.
Meanwhile, the ongoing court battle over SNAP benefits continues to affect 1 in 8 Americans. For schools and colleges, this isn’t an abstract number. Children are arriving at school hungry, and schools and local communities are working to magically stretch already taxed budgets to provide relief for kids and their families.
A 2024 GAO study found that 23% of college students experience food insecurity, with fewer than half receiving SNAP assistance. Students, some of whom have already been hit with the loss of vital federal funds, including childcare subsidies for parenting students, are increasingly facing untenable choices.
What looks like a human services problem is also an education equity crisis—one that reaches directly into classrooms, campuses, and communities.
Even as Congress inches toward reopening the government, the administration has filed suit against states that released full SNAP benefits over the weekend. The result: more families in limbo, more schools navigating the downstream effects of federal dysfunction.
And beyond the classroom: TSA workers remain unpaid, heating subsidies have lapsed, and families across the country are feeling the cumulative strain of a federal government still only partially functioning.
A government of the people, by the people, and for the people indeed.
· H.R. 5968 (Miller, R-IL), the Promoting Classical Learning Act of 2025, to promote the use of the Classic Learning Test (CLT) at military service academies and federally-run schools (Armed Services; Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 5987 (Vindman, D-VA), to amend title 10, United States Code, to ensure equitable access to Department of Defense Education Activity schools for dependents of certain members of the reserve components performing active service (Armed Services).
· S. 3127 (Welch, D-VT), to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to reauthorize the farm to school program (Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry).
· S. 3157 (Luján, D-NM), to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to improve direct certification (Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry).
· On November 5, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing to examine registered apprenticeship, focusing on scaling the workforce for the future.
· On November 5, the Senate Committee on Veteran’ Affairs held a hearing to examine veterans’ success after service
· On November 6, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing to examine reforming financial transparency in higher education.
· The Senate resumed consideration of the motion to proceed to consideration of H.R. 5371, the GOP-backed continuing resolution to extend funding through November 21. On November 5, the Senate rejected the motion to close further debate on the motion to proceed to consideration by a vote of 54 yeas to 44 nays.