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.
Members of Congress remain focused on tomorrow’s midterms. Our Magic 8-ball is hiding, too stressed out from texts asking for just $5 to help out with campaigns. Instead, we’re turning our focus this week to acknowledge the departure of six generational heavyweights from Congress. Representatives Jerry Nadler (D-NY; Judiciary), Steny Hoyer (D-MD; Appropriations), and Burgess Owens (R-UT; Education and Workforce), and Senators Dick Durbin, Mitch McConnell, and Jeanne Shaheen, are all leaving Congress at the end of their current terms.
Collectively, these lawmakers have spent well over a century on the Hill, shaping policy on everything from civil rights and federal student loans to school choice, special education funding, and the proper role of the federal government in education. Some leave behind significant legislative accomplishments. Others have shaped education policy primarily through political leadership, appropriations, or dogged opposition to particular federal initiatives. Their departures give us an opportunity to consider not just what they accomplished, but what their records – in the context of their years of service – tell us about the evolution of federal education policy.
Representative Nadler’s education policy legacy is largely inseparable from his broader work on civil rights and constitutional protections. First elected in 1992, Nadler became one of the House’s most prominent defenders of civil rights defenders on issues of race, sex, religion, and disability, treating civil rights enforcement and access to judicial remedies as essential federal responsibilities. His leadership on the House Judiciary Committee placed him at the center of debates over the reach of federal civil rights law, executive authority, and judicial enforcement. Although not principally an education legislator, Nadler’s work has had significant implications for schools and universities. His advocacy for LGBTQIA+ rights, including the Equality Act, sought to expand federal statutory protections against discrimination in education and other settings. His defense of separation of church and state also informed debates over public funding, religious institutions, and the constitutional limitations on government action. Much of his ambitious agenda never became law, however, and his expansive view of federal civil rights authority has generated significant legal and policy disputes, especially concerning religious liberty and the boundaries of federal regulation.
Representative Hoyer, elected in 1980, forged an identity as an institutional pragmatist, and leaves a legacy of legislative coalition-building, appropriations, and sustained support for federal investment in education. Hoyer not only understands the substance of federal programs, but has a keen knowledge of the often unglamorous mechanics required on both the Hill and within the administration to keep them operational. He has consistently supported increased resources for public schools, special education, early childhood programs, higher education, and research institutions. He also played a consequential role in advancing the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, profoundly influencing accessibility and nondiscrimination obligations across public educational institutions and postsecondary education. His longstanding support for federal employees and public institutions have also made him an important voice in debates about the Department of Education and other agencies responsible for implementing federal programs. Hoyer’s pragmatism came with tradeoffs, as his preference for incremental progress and negotiated compromises sometimes frustrated advocates seeking federal intervention and structural reform.
Representative Owens is a more recent addition to the House, but leaves a directly education-focused record. As chair of the House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development, Owens championed parent choice, career and technical education, workforce pathways, and efforts to directly connect postsecondary education to employment outcomes. He has been an outspoken supporter of expanding alternatives to traditional public education, including charter schools, private schools, and education scholarship programs, as realized in the federal tax credit scholarship framework enacted in 2025. Owens’ school-choice agenda raised questions about accountability, equitable access, and the diversion of public resources from traditional public school systems. His opposition to DEI initiatives and expansive federal civil rights oversight also reflect a broader effort to narrow the federal role in protecting historically underserved student populations. While Owens may be departing, several of his policy priorities have become central components of the Republican education platform.
Senator Durbin’s decades in Congress have been punctuated by a direct and sustained influence on higher education consumer protection. He pushed for stronger institutional accountability, greater transparency concerning student outcomes, and relief for borrowers harmed by institutional misconduct. His efforts helped sustain congressional attention on borrower defense, deceptive recruiting practices, and the relationship between federal financial aid and institutional performance. Durbin has also supported measures to improve college affordability through interest rate reforms and open educational resources, and has engaged in longstanding advocacy for undocumented students, including the DREAM Act. Durbin helped change the conversation around student protection, even when legislative solutions remained contested or incomplete.
Senator McConnell’s education policy legacy has been consequential. As Senate Republican leader for nearly two decades, McConnell has exercised enormous influence over the federal judiciary, legislative priorities, appropriations, and the relationship between Congress and the executive branch. His most enduring influence on education law may be his role in reshaping the Supreme Court and lower federal courts. The judicial appointments advanced during McConnell’s leadership contributed to a fundamental reconsideration of administrative agency authority, religious liberty, affirmative action, and the constitutional boundaries of government action, altering the legal environment for students, educational institutions, state agencies, and the Department of Education. McConnell also played an important role in advancing the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015.
Senator Shaheen’s education legacy is grounded in a pragmatic commitment to public education, student access, and sustained federal investment. A longtime member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, she advocated for increased federal education funding, including greater support for the IDEA. Shaheen also championed college affordability, federal student aid, borrower protections, and combating student debt relief scams. Her bipartisan work on student loan fraud protections developed into legislation enacted in 2020.
While public frustration with pragmatic and incremental responses are running high, with the Departure of a large number of experienced lawmakers, Congress is losing members who remember why particular statutory compromises were made, how federal programs were designed to function, and what can happen when implementation becomes disconnected from legislative intent. At the same time, institutional memory is not a substitute for fresh thinking – we’ll be watching as new members join Congress’ ranks and leadership questions are resolved to see whether these departures create new opportunities for overdue changes in priorities and whether their successors have the interest, expertise, and political willingness to meaningfully and effectively engage on education.
· H.R. 10931 (Kean, R-NJ), to require the Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services to award grants to eligible entities for public library construction (Education and Workforce).