A quick look back at the news from last week, compiled by Penn Hill Group: 

HOUSE

The House Education and the Workforce Committee will hold a committee hearing on education research and student privacy on Tuesday, March 22. Witnesses have not yet been announced.

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies will hold a subcommittee hearing on the U.S Department of Education’s (ED’s) Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 budget request on Tuesday, March 22. Secretary John King will testify.

The House Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Research and Technology will hold a subcommittee hearing on the National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s) FY2017 budget request on Tuesday, March 22. NSF Director France Cordova and National Science Board Vice Chair Kelvin Droegemeier will testify.

SENATE

Dr. John King was confirmed by the Senate as U.S. Secretary of Education by a vote of 49–40.

The Senate is in recess and will return on Monday, April 4.

BUDGET

The House Budget Committee passed its FY2017 budget proposal by a vote of 20–16. The budget resolution upholds the non-defense discretionary spending caps for FY2017, but calls for reductions in mandatory and discretionary spending for the FY2018–FY2026 period. The proposed budget also includes reconciliation instructions for the Education and Workforce Committee to produce legislation that cuts $1 billion from the Committee’s jurisdiction over the FY2017–FY2026 period. Finally, the proposed budget calls for Congress to limit the maximum Pell Grant award to $5,815 (the FY2016 level) for the next ten years.

ADMINISTRATION

ED is holding its first negotiated rulemaking session on the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act from March 21–23. Title I Assessments and Supplement/Not Supplant will be addressed.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) requested that a federal district court enter a final judgment that would ban Student Loan Processing.US and its owner, James Krause, from any future involvement in debt relief and student loan services. CFPB asserts that the company and Krause charged borrowers millions of dollars in illegal upfront fees for federal student loan services.