Last Week in Congress (9/21–9/27/25)
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.
During the last full week of the fiscal year, Congress was largely out of session as members spent the week in their districts. The House and Senate held pro forma sessions to accept reports and introduce bills, but no committee meetings were held. As the specter of a government shutdown looms, the President cancelled a negotiation meeting with Congressional Democrats, calling their requests "unserious and ridiculous". The President is now scheduled to negotiate today with both Republican and Democrat leadership.
Further complicating the conversation is the Supreme Court's decision on Friday, based on standing, to (temporarily) allow the administration to cut $4 billion of foreign aid previously appropriated by Congress without the formal approval of legislators. While the final outcome of the case hasn't been decided, the Court's decision weakens Congress' constitutional power of the purse and complicates the calculation. This, combined with legislative recissions at the end of the summer, will likely contribute to challenges in current budget negotiations.
· H.R. 5541 (Yassamin, D-AZ), to amend the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act to permanently authorize the Every Kid Outdoors program (Natural Resources; Agriculture; Transportation and Infrastructure).
· H.R. 5542 (Barr, R-KY), the End Government Shutdowns Act, to amend title 31, United States Code, to provide for automatic continuous appropriations (Appropriations).
· H.R. 5545 (Brownley, D-CA), to require institutions of higher education to adopt a policy relating to the provision of advisers for certain students (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 5546 (Espaillat, D-NY), to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of higher education to track and record additional information on hate crimes (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 5547 (Espaillat, D-NY), to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide for additional activities, resources, and data collection with respect to English learners (Education and Workforce).
· H.R. 5552 (Johnson, R-SD), to provide for automatic continuing appropriations (Appropriations; Budget).
· H.R. 5553 (Langworthy, R-NY), to amend the Public Health Service Act to ensure area career and technical education schools are eligible for mental health and substance use disorder service grants (Energy and Commerce).
· H.R. 5557 (Salinas, D-OR), to amend the Public Health Service Act to revise and extend projects relating to children and to provide access to school-based comprehensive mental health programs (Energy and Commerce).
· H.R. 5563 (Crawford, R-AR), to establish an apprenticeship program for commercial drivers under the age of 21 (Transportation and Infrastructure).
· H.R. 5584 (Kean, R-NJ), to improve educational efforts related to artificial intelligence literacy at the K through 12 level (Science, Space, and Technology).
· H.R. 5590 (Lawler, R-NY), to amend title 18, United States Code, to provide penalties for communicating threats that target schools (Judiciary).
· H.R. 5609 (Stevens, D-MI), to direct the National Institutes of Health to reinstate funding to recipients of grants or other awards (Energy and Commerce).