Last Week in Congress (11/17–11/28/25)
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.
Congress has been back to work: Senators and Representatives have introduced a wide range of education-related legislation spanning K-12 nutrition, student mental health, loan transparency and reforms to federal student aid, and civil rights protections. Representatives introduced a collection of bills geared toward improving online safety of minors and increasing the responsibilities of platform companies. Substantive hearings have also resumed, with House committees holding hearings on the future of college, career and technical education pathways, and improving services for foster youth.
· H.R. 6065 (Plaskett, D-VI), to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to reauthorize the farm to school program (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 6120 (Zinke, R-MT), the Strengthening Resources for our Schools (SROS) Act, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude from gross income any retirement income received by individuals who retired from service as a law enforcement officer or member of the Armed Forces and subsequently serve as school resource officers (Ways and Means).
· H.R. 6131 (Chu, D-CA), to increase the recruitment and retention of school-based mental health services providers by low-income local educational agencies (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 6133 (Espaillat, D-NY), to direct the Secretary of Education to make grants to support early college high schools and dual or concurrent enrollment programs (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 6134 (Feenstra, R-IA), to require disclosure of the total amount of interest that would be paid over the life of a loan for certain Federal student loans (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 6144 (Jackson, R-TX), to prohibit Federal agencies from providing on Federal forms, surveys, and documents, an option other than Male or Female to reference the sex of an individual (Oversight and Government Reform).
· H.R. 6145 (Jayapal, D-WA), the Experts Protect Effective Rules, Transparency, and Stability (EXPERTS) Act of 2025, to amend title 5, United States Code, to require disclosure of conflicts of interest with respect to rulemaking (Judiciary; Oversight and Government Reform).
· H.R. 6159 (Rivas, D-CA), to establish in the Office of Science and Technology Policy the Artificial Intelligence Literacy and Education Commission (Science, Space, and Technology).
· H.R. 6181 (Davis, D-IL), to prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), and marital status in the administration and provision of child welfare services, to improve safety, well-being, and permanency for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning foster youth (Ways and Means; Energy and Commerce).
· H.R. 6186 (Fine, R-FL), the No Antisemitism in Education Act, to require public elementary schools, public secondary schools, and institutions of higher education to treat discrimination motivated by antisemitism in an identical manner to how such school or institution treats discrimination motivated by race (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 6282 (Smucker, R-PA), to amend title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide program eligibility for distance education programs offered by foreign institutions of higher education (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 6284 (Swalwell, D-CA), to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for a percentage of student loan forgiveness for public service employment (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 6253 (Cammack, R-FL), to require online platforms to disclose policies and provide options relating to personalized recommendations systems to minors (Energy and Commerce).
· H.R. 6257 (Dunn, R-FL), to protect minors from harms associated with ephemeral messaging features and unsolicited direct contact on social media platforms by prohibiting certain ephemeral messaging features for minors and mandating the provision of parental direct messaging controls (Energy and Commerce).
· H.R. 6259 (Evans, R-CO), to require the Federal Trade Commission to submit to Congress a report on the ability of minors to access fentanyl through social media platforms (Energy and Commerce; Judiciary).
· H.R. 6265 (Kean, R-NJ), to require online video game providers to provide certain safeguards for minors (Energy and Commerce).
· H.R. 6266 (Kennedy, R-UT), the Algorithm Accountability Act, to amend section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 to limit liability protection under that section for certain social media platforms (Energy and Commerce).
· H.R. 6273 (Miller-Meeks, R-IA), the Stop Profiling Youth and (SPY) Kids Act, to prohibit market or product-focused research on children and minors (Energy and Commerce).
· H.R. 6289 (Lee, R-FL), the Promoting a Safe Internet for Minors Act, amend the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 to promote online safety for minors (Energy and Commerce).
· H.R. 6290 (Bentz, R-OR), the Safe Social Media Act, to require the Federal Trade Commission to conduct a study regarding social media use by teenagers (Energy and Commerce).
· H.R. 6291 (Walberg, R-MI), the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act, to amend the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 to strengthen protections relating to the online collection, use, and disclosure of personal information of children and teens (Energy and Commerce).
· H.R. 6292 (Pallone, D-NJ), to prohibit data brokers from collecting, using, or maintaining the personal data of certain minors (Energy and Commerce).
· H.R. 6307 (Morelle, D-NY), to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to fund the information clearinghouse through fiscal year 2032 (Education and Workforce).
· S. 3189 (Sheehy, R-MT), to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude from gross income any retirement income received by individuals who retired from service as a law enforcement officer or member of the Armed Forces and subsequently serve as school resource officers (Finance).
· S. 3217 (Klobuchar, D-MN), to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for lifelong learning accounts (Finance).
· S. 3253 (Durbin, D-IL), to amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to extend the interest rate limitation on debt entered into during military service to debt incurred during military service to consolidate or refinance student loans incurred before military service (Veterans’ Affairs).
· S. 3277 (Blumenthal, D-CT), to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for a percentage of student loan forgiveness for public service employment (Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions).
· S. 3279 (Gillibrand, D-NY), to prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), and marital status in the administration and provision of child welfare services, to improve safety, well-being, and permanency for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning foster youth (Judiciary).
· On November 18, the House Committee on Education and Workforce held a hearing entitled “The Future of College: Harnessing Innovation to Improve Outcomes and Lower Costs.”
· On November 18, the House Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Work and Welfare, held a hearing entitled “Leaving the Sticky Notes Behind: Harnessing Innovation and New Technology to Help America’s Foster Youth Succeed.”
· On November 19, the House Committee on Education and Workforce held a hearing entitled “From Classroom to Career: Strengthening Skills Pathways Through CTE.”
· On November 20, the Senate passed S. 222, the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to allow schools that participate in the school lunch program to serve whole milk, after agreeing to the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute.
· On November 20, the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs was discharged from further consideration of H.R. 983, to amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to disapprove courses of education offered by a public institution of higher learning that does not charge the in-State tuition rate to a veteran using certain educational assistance under title 10 of such Code, and the bill was then passed.