Last Week in Congress (12/8–12/12/25)
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.
As the Department of Education convened negotiated rulemaking on Workforce Pell, Congress was also active on multiple education fronts.
The House passed the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act, and the Senate passed the Ensuring VetSuccess on Campus Act.
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce recently marked up four bills focused on higher education and financial aid, each aimed at improving transparency and accessibility for students and families. All four bills, as amended, advanced out of Committee.
At the same time, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade held a markup on eighteen newly introduced bills addressing how students and young people interact with social media, data, and artificial intelligence. By advancing eighteen bills, the Subcommittee signaled an intensified congressional push to address the risks and governance of social media, data use, and AI as they increasingly shape students’ experiences.
· H.R. 6498 (Guthrie, R-KY), the Student Financial Clarity Act, to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to increase transparency in college tuition for consumers (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 6499 (Fulcher, R-ID), to require the Federal Trade Commission to submit a report on industry efforts to promote online safety for minors (Energy and Commerce).
· H.R. 6502 (McClain, R-MI), the College Financial Aid Clarity Act of 2025, to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require the Secretary of Education to develop requirements for institutions of higher education on formatting financial aid offer forms (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 6532 (Lee, D-NV), to establish a grant program for innovative partnerships among teacher preparation programs, local educational agencies, and community-based organizations to expand access to high-quality tutoring in hard-to-staff schools and high-need schools (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 6535 (Neguse, D-CO), to extend the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (Agriculture; Natural Resources).
· H.R. 6574 (Kennedy, D-NY), the Loan Equity for Advanced Professionals Act, to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to ensure that graduate and professional students have the same annual and aggregate limits for Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 6591 (Rivas, D-CA), the Computer Science for All Act of 2025, to authorize the Secretary of Education to carry out a program to increase access to prekindergarten through grade 12 computer science education (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 6606 (Bonamici, D-OR), to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to reauthorize the Federal work-study program (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 6607 (Underwood, D-IL), to amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants to support schools of nursing in increasing the number of nursing students and faculty and in program enhancement and infrastructure modernization (Energy and Commerce).
· H.R. 6621 (Cleaver, D-MO), to promote a 21st century workforce, to authorize grants to support emerging and advanced technology education, and to support training and quality employment for workers in industries most impacted by artificial intelligence (Education and Workforce; Science, Space, and Technology).
· H.R. 6627 (Elfreth, D-MD), to amend section 2004 of title 10, United States Code, to increase the maximum number of years on active duty an enlisted member may serve and be eligible for detail as a student at a law school with funding provided by the Department of Defense (Armed Services).
· H.R. 6631 (Elfreth, D-MD), to require the Secretary of Defense to establish a program for the development of cybersecurity education at academic institutions (Armed Services).
· H.R. 6634 (Fields, D-LA), to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to establish a refundable childhood education tax credit with monthly advance payments (Ways and Means).
· H.R. 6663 (Murphy, R-NC), the Campus Free Speech Restoration Act, to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to ensure that public institutions of higher education eschew policies that improperly constrain the expressive rights of students, and to ensure that private institutions of higher education are transparent about, and responsible for, their chosen speech policies (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 6672 (Salinas, D-OR), the Mental Health Professionals Workforce Shortage Loan Repayment Act of 2025, to amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize a loan repayment program for mental health professionals to relieve workforce shortages (Energy and Commerce).
· H.R. 6677 (Torres, D-NY), to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to reverse the reductions in Federal loan availability for graduate and professional students enacted under Public Law 119-21 (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 6686 (Foster, D-IL), to amend section 262 of the Museum and Library Services Act to authorize the Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services to award grants to institutions of higher education for courses that use only publicly available digital resources for required reading assignments (Education and Workforce).
· S. 3401 (Marshall, R-KS), to establish, improve, or expand high-quality workforce development programs at community colleges (Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions).
· S. 3406 (Booker, D-NJ), to establish a grant program for innovative partnerships among teacher preparation programs, local educational agencies, and community-based organizations to expand access to high-quality tutoring in hard-to-staff schools and high-need schools (Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions).
· S. 3433 (Banks, R-IN), to eliminate certain higher education funding to certain minority-serving institutions (Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions).
· S. 3435 (Merkley, D-OR), to amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants to support schools of nursing in increasing the number of nursing students and faculty and in program enhancement and infrastructure modernization (Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions).
· S. 3448 (Murphy, D-CT), to prohibit and prevent seclusion, mechanical restraint, chemical restraint, and dangerous restraints that restrict breathing, and to prevent and reduce the use of physical restraint in schools (Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions).
· On December 9, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Subcommittee on Education and the American Family, held a hearing to examine building pathways, focusing on advancing workforce development in the 21st century.
· On December 9, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing to examine protecting children online against offenders.
· On December 11, the House Education and Workforce Committee held a markup of four bills related to higher education and financial aid that aim to make college more transparent and accessible. All four bills were ordered reported, as amended:
H.R. 6392, the Home School Graduation Recognition Act, to amend the Education Act of 1965 to recognize students who have completed secondary school education in a home school setting as high school graduates (bill, as amended, passed out of committee by a vote of 33 yeas to 0 nays);
H.R. 6472, the Territorial Student Access to Higher Education Act, to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for in-state tuition rates for certain residents of Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and the United States Virgin Islands (bill, as amended, passed out of committee by a vote of 32 yeas to 1 nay);
H.R. 6498, the Student Financial Clarity Act, to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to increase transparency in college tuition for consumers (bill, as amended, passed out of committee by a vote of 27 yeas to 6 nays); and
H.R. 6502, the College Financial Aid Clarity Act, to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require the Secretary of Education to develop requirements for institutions of higher education on formatting financial aid offer forms (bill, as amended, passed out of committee by a vote of 23 yeas to 10 nays).
· On December 11, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade held a markup on a collection of recently-introduced bills centering on interactions between students and youth and social media, data, and AI:
H.R. 6290, the Safe Social Media Act, to require the Federal Trade Commission to conduct a study regarding social media use by teenagers (bill passed out of committee without amendment);
H.R. 6259, the No Fentanyl on Social Media Act, to require the Federal Trade Commission to submit to Congress a report on the ability of minors to access fentanyl through social media platforms (bill passed out of committee without amendment);
H.R. 6289, the Promoting a Safe Internet for Minors Act, to amend the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 to promote online safety for minors (bill passed out of committee without amendment);
H.R. 6437, the Kids Internet Safety Partnership Act, to direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish the Kids Internet Safety Partnership to identify and advance best practices with respect to the online safety of minors (bill passed out of committee without amendment);
H.R. 6499, the Assessing Safety Tools for Parents and Minors Act, to require the Federal Trade Commission to submit a report on industry efforts to promote online safety for minors (bill passed out of committee without amendment);
H.R. 2657, Sammy’s Law, to require large social media platform providers to create, maintain, and make available to third-party safety software providers a set of real-time application programming interfaces, through which a child or a parent or legal guardian of a child may delegate permission to a third-party safety software provider to manage the online interactions, content, and account settings of such child on the large social media platform on the same terms as such child (bill passed out of committee without amendment);
H.R. 6253, the Algorithmic Choice and Transparency Act, to require online platforms to disclose policies and provide options relating to personalized recommendations systems to minors (bill passed out of committee without amendment);
H.R. 6489, the Safeguarding Adolescents from Exploitative (SAFE) Bots Act, to ensure that providers of chatbots clearly and conspicuously disclose to users who are minors that chatbots are artificial intelligence systems, not natural person, and do not provide advice from licensed professionals (bill passed out of committee without amendment);
H.R. 6257, the Safe Messaging for Kids Act of 2025, 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 (bill passed out of committee without amendment);
H.R. 6333, the Parents over Platforms Act, to ensure responsible age assurance practices within the mobile ecosystem, particularly concerning the protection of minors (bill passed out of committee without amendment);
H.R. 6291, the Children and Teen’s 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 (bill passed out of committee without amendment);
H.R. 5360, the AI Warnings and Resources for Education (AWARE) Act, to direct the Federal Trade Commission to develop and make available to the public educational resources for parents, educators, and minors with respect to the safe and responsible use of AI chatbots by minors (bill passed out of committee as amended);
H.R. 6265, the Safer Guarding of Adolescents from Malicious Interactions on Network Games (GAMING) Act, to ensure responsible age assurance practices within the mobile ecosystem, particularly concerning the protection of minors (bill passed out of committee as amended);
H.R. 6273, the Stop Profiling Youth and (SPY) Kids Act, to prohibit market or product-focused research on children and minors (bill passed out of committee as amended);
H.R. 1623, the Shielding Children’s Retinas from Egregious Exposure on the Net (SCREEN) Act, to require certain interactive computer services to adopt and operate technology verification measures to ensure that users of the platform are not minors (bill passed out of committee as amended);
H.R. 3149, the App Store Accountability Act, to safeguard children by providing parents with clear and accurate information about the apps downloaded and used by their children and to ensure proper parental consent is achieved (bill passed out of committee as amended);
H.R. 6292, the Don’t Sell Kids’ Data Act, to prohibit data brokers from collecting, using, or maintaining the personal data of certain minors (bill passed out of committee as amended); and
H.R. 6484, the Kids Online Safety Act, to protect the safety of minors on the internet (bill passed out of committee as amended)
· On December 9, under suspension of rules, the House passed S. 356, the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act, to extend the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000, by a vote of 399 yeas to 5 nays.
· On December 11, the Senate passed S. 610, the Ensuring VetSuccess on Campus Act, to ensure that the VetSuccess on Campus (VSOC) program is located in every state.