Last Week in Congress (3/16–3/20/26)
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.
On March 18, the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government convened a hearing titled “Immigration Policy by Court Order: The Adverse Effects of Plyler v. Doe.” The premise was clear: to revisit and challenge the 1982 Supreme Court decision in Plyler v. Doe, which guarantees access to K–12 public education regardless of immigration status.
At least six states have now introduced legislation designed to directly challenge or lay the groundwork for overturning Plyler. The tone of the hearing suggested meaningful support among House majority members for doing just that.
Whatever one’s views on immigration policy, the underlying question here is broader: whether the United States continues to recognize that educating all children is in the country’s long-term economic, civic, and public safety interest. Plyler reflected a judgment that denying education to a discrete group of children imposes far greater societal costs over time. That reality hasn’t changed.
Reopening that question carries consequences well beyond immigration policy—it goes to the core of how we define access to public education in this country.
· H.R. 7974 (Brecheen, R-OK), to amend the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 to ensure real-time public access to Federal award information (Oversight and Government Reform).
· H.R. 7981 (Luna, R-FL), to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to prohibit funds under such Act from being provided to public elementary and secondary schools that provide counseling, therapy, or guidance related to gender identity to students under 18 years of age (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 7989 (Thompson, R-PA), to amend the weights used to determine amounts for targeted grants and education finance incentive grants for local educational agencies under title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 7994 (Ruiz, D-CA), to establish a grant program to provide schools with opioid reversal drugs, and to direct schools receiving Federal funds to report to certain Federal information systems any distribution of an opioid reversal drug (Energy and Commerce; Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 7995 (Moore, D-WI), the Chafee Opportunities for New Networks and Existing Connection Trust (CONNECT) Act, to update the purposes of the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood to reflect research and the input of youth with lived experience about the importance of long-term relationships to future success (Ways and Means).
· H.R. 7999 (Bera, D-CA), to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to provide additional reimbursement to schools with a breakfast after the bell program (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 8009 (Houchin, R-IN), to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for institutional ineligibility based on low cohort repayment rates and to require risk-sharing payments of institutions of higher education (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 8017 (Moore, R-AL), to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to improve prohibitions on discrimination by public accommodations (Judiciary).
· S. 4097 (Murkowski, R-AK), to establish that a State-based education loan is excluded from certain requirements relating to a preferred lender arrangement (Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions).
· S. 4114 (Shaheen, D-NH), to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for institutional ineligibility based on low cohort repayment rates and to require risk-sharing payments of institutions of higher education (Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions).
· S. 4119 (Warnock, D-GA), to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow married couples to apply the student loan interest deduction limitation separately to each spouse (Finance).
· S. 4133(Cortez Masto, D-NV), to require the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to encourage entrepreneurship training in after school programs (Small Business and Entrepreneurship).
· On March 16, the House Committee on Education and Workforce held a full committee markup on H.R. 7894, the “Truman Scholarship Clean House Act”; H.R. 7661, the “Stop the Sexualization of Children Act”; H.R. 7890, the “Science of Reading Act of 2026”; H.R. 7892, the “No Aid for Ghost Students Act of 2026”; H.R. 7891, the “Student Aid Fraud Oversight and Accountability Act of 2026”; H.R. 7893, the “FAFSA Verification Efficiency Act”; and H.R. 6084, the “ERISA Litigation Reform Act”.
· On March 18, the House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limiting Government, held a hearing entitled “Immigration Policy by Court Order: The Adverse Effects of Plyler v. Doe.”
· On March 18, the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs held a meeting to consider a number of bills, including: S. 342, to amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize an individual who is awarded the Purple Heart for service in the Armed Forces to transfer unused Post-9/11 Educational Assistance to a family member; S. 649, to amend title 38, United States Code, to expand eligibility for Post-9/11 Educational Assistance to members of the National Guard who perform certain full-time duty, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute; and S. 2328, to authorize the use of veterans educational assistance for examinations and assessments to receive credit toward degrees awarded by institutions of higher learning. The bills were ordered favorably reported.
· On March 18, the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs held a meeting to consider a number of bills, including H.R. 1391, the “Student Veteran Benefit Restoration Act of 2025”.
· On March 19, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions held a Member Day to examine legislative priorities, including: S. 880, to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prohibit institutions of higher education participating in Federal student assistance programs from giving preferential treatment in the admissions process to legacy students or donors, S. 942, to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for interest-free deferment on student loans for borrowers serving in a medical or dental internship or residency program, S. 1269, to promote United States leadership in technical standards by directing the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Department of State to take certain actions to encourage and enable United States participation in developing standards and specifications for artificial intelligence and other critical and emerging technologies, S. 1380, to amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize a loan repayment program to encourage specialty medicine physicians to serve in rural communities experiencing a shortage of specialty medicine physicians, S. 2323, to amend the Head Start Act to permit some teachers in Early Head Start programs to teach while earning a child development associate credential, S. 2841, to amend the American History and Civics Education program under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require hands-on civic engagement activities for teachers and students and programs that educate students about the history and principles of the Constitution of the United States, including the Bill of Rights, S. 2855, to direct the Secretary of Labor to carry out a competitive grant program to support community colleges and area career and technical education centers in developing immersive technology education and training services programs for workforce development, S. 2859, to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to ensure campus access at public institutions of higher education for religious groups, S. 3401, to establish, improve, or expand high-quality workforce development programs at community colleges, S. 3525, and S. 4097, to establish that a State-based education loan program is excluded from certain requirements relating to a preferred lender arrangement.