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 their organizational meeting to adopt the Committee’s rules and Oversight plan for the 115^th Congress on Tuesday, January 24 at 11:15am.

House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee Chairman Todd Rokita (R-IN), as well as Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) issued statements applauding the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) decision to withdraw its proposed “supplement, not supplant” regulation.

House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Foxx announced the new Republican and Democratic members who will serve on the Committee for the 115th Congress.

SENATE 

The HELP Committee held a hearing on the nomination of Betsy DeVos to serve as ED Secretary. The webcast and testimony can be found here.

The HELP Committee held a hearing on the nomination of Representative Tom Price (R-GA) to serve as Secretary of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The webcast and testimony can be found here.

HELP Committee Chairman Alexander released a statement supporting the nomination of Betsy DeVos to serve as ED Secretary, which also includes his prepared opening remarks for the hearing on her nomination.

HELP Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) released a statement voicing her concerns about Betsy DeVos’ nomination, which also includes her prepared opening remarks for the hearing on her nomination.

HELP Committee Chairman Alexander released a statement supporting the nomination of Representative Price, as well as the simultaneous repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act. The statement also includes his prepared opening remarks for the hearing on his nomination.

HELP Committee Ranking Member Murray released a statement voicing her concerns about Representative Price’s nomination, which also includes her prepared opening remarks for the hearing on his nomination.

HELP Committee Chairman Alexander announced that the Committee plans to hold a hearing on the nomination of Andy Puzder to serve as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday, February 2.

ADMINISTRATION  

ED Secretary John King announced that ED is withdrawing their proposed “supplement-not-supplant” regulation, stating that ED did not have time to publish a strong final regulation.

ED announced that Deputy General Counsel Philip Rosenfelt was named as Acting ED Secretary until an ED Secretary is sworn in.

The Office of Government Ethics published Betsy DeVos’ public financial disclosure report and ethics agreement.

The U.S. Department of Treasury and ED announced that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding establishing a framework regarding the requirements for electronically sharing tax data over multiple years for Federal student loan borrowers participating in Income-Driven Repayment plans.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is suing Navient, the country’s largest servicer of Federal and private student loans, for allegedly violating the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act.

ED Secretary King sent a dispatch titled ‘America has the right to a great public education.’

ED published, in the Federal Register, a Final Rule on the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which changes the name of the office to the Office of the Chief Privacy Officer in order to reflect additional committed resources and to increase internal efficiency.

ED published, in the Federal Register, a Final Rule on Federal policy for the protection of human subjects to modernize, simplify and enhance the current system of oversight.

ED published, in the Federal Register, a Final Rule on the open licensing requirement for competitive grant programs, which amends the regulations of the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards.

ED published, in the Federal Register, a Final Rule on the Student Assistance General Provisions, which updates ED’s hearing procedures for actions to establish liability against an institution of higher education and establishes procedural rules governing recovery proceedings under ED’s borrower defense regulations.