On Wednesday, the House Education and Workforce Committee held a markup of ten bills intending to codify interagency transfers of Department of Education programs and responsibilities. The ten bills introduced last week reflect President Trump’s plan to return education to the states and efforts by committee Republicans to restructure the federal role in education by dismantling the Department of Education and transferring its responsibilities to various agencies they consider better fit to handle policy domains such as workforce development, diplomacy and financial management. The ten-bill agenda was approved by the committee largely along party lines.
One of the bills considered, H.R. 9611, would transfer numerous postsecondary education programs to the Department of Labor. Democrats criticized the package, arguing that it would further erode public trust in the federal government while creating additional burdens for students, families, states, and institutions.
Democrats offered several amendments but all were rejected. An amendment from Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA) reads, “nothing in this Act shall take effect until the date the Secretary of Education repeals the rule submitted by the Department of Education relating to ‘‘Reimagining and Improving Student Education-Federal Student Loan Program Final Regulations’’.
The measures face significant obstacles in the Senate.
More details from Committee Republicans are here and here. A press release from Committee Democrats is here.