Last Week in Congress (6/15–6/19/26)
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.
Last Tuesday, the Department of Education announced four new interagency agreements (IAAs) that would, in part, move the functions and responsibilities of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services to the Department of Health and Human Services, and move the Office for Civil Rights and Student Privacy Policy Office to the Department of Justice. These IAAs follow ten prior agreements transferring programs out of the Department.
Hill response to the prior transfers was one of vague disapproval and concern with no teeth. The February appropriations bill was accompanied by explanatory text expressing concern, but did nothing to prohibit these new transfers.
The Hill’s approach appears to be shifting. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) announced on Wednesday that she will introduce a resolution to impeach Secretary McMahon on claims that the Secretary violated her oath of office, made false and misleading statements to Congress, and illegally transferred multiple offices in the Department to other federal agencies without Congressional approval. Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA), ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, both issued statements opposing the IAAs. During a Senate HELP Committee hearing on Wednesday, Senator Kaine introduced an amendment prohibiting the transfer of OSERS to HHS. While the amendment was withdrawn, Chairman Cassidy did public commitment to legislative action to push the administration to change course.
The Department’s timing of the announcement is interesting because it comes squarely in the middle of appropriations season, a time when legislators are already very focused on what is happening in executive branch agencies, and during a midterm year when the Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee is facing a tough bid for reelection, and the Chair of the Senate HELP Committee is on his way out with little interest in bending to the administration’s plans.
· H.R. 9317 (Langworthy, R-NY), to prohibit engine idling restrictions for over-the-road buses and school buses if an engine idles for less than 15 minutes (Energy and Commerce).
· H.R. 9320 (Menefee, D-TX), to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow local educational agencies to use Federal funds for programs and activities that address chronic absenteeism (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 9324 (Steube, R-FL), to prohibit the provision of Federal funds to State and local governments and school districts for payment of obligations, to prohibit the Federal Reserve Bank, the Department of Treasury, and other Federal agencies from financially assisting State and local governments and school districts that have defaulted on their obligations (Oversight and Government Reform; Financial Services).
· H.R. 9351 (Harrigan, R-NC), to amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to provide relief for members of the uniformed services who homeschool their dependent children (Veterans’ Affairs).
· S. 4783 (Cruz, R-TX), to amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to provide relief for members of the uniformed service who homeschool their dependent children (Armed Services).
· S. 4788 (Moody, R-FL), to amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to withhold funds from noncompliant States under such Act (Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions).
· S. 4797 (Cornyn, R-TX), to require States to consider legal issues affecting youth as part of case planning and to provide States with the option to use funds from the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for successful Transition to Adulthood to support access to legal services and counseling (Finance).
· S. 4834 (Scott, R-FL), to limit expenditures for foreign student work authorizations (Judiciary).
· S. 4843 (Blumenthal, D-CT), to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to promote comprehensive campus mental health and suicide prevention plans (Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions).
· On June 16, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Subcommittee on Education and the American Family, held a hearing to examine the future of K-12 education in the age of artificial intelligence.
· On June 18, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, held a hearing to consider S. 4668, to protect the name, image, and likeness rights of, and provide protections for, student athletes and to promote fair competition among intercollegiate athletics.
· On June 15, the Chair of the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity nominated Jeffrey Scott Stroup of Oklahoma to serve as a member of NACIQI.