A quick look back at the news from last week. Compiled by Penn Hill Group.

HOUSE

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies held a hearing on the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) fiscal year (FY) 2018 budget, where ED Secretary Betsy DeVos testified.

The House Education and the Workforce Committee held a hearing entitled “Empowering Students and Families to Make Informed Decisions on Higher Education.” Subcommittee Democrats and Republicans released statements on their priorities.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) released a statement on President Trump’s FY2018 budget proposal, stating that Congress is responsible for creating the budget.

House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) released a statement on President Trump’s FY2018 budget proposal.

House Education and the Workforce Committee Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA) released a statement in opposition to President Trump’s FY2018 budget proposal.

Chairwoman Foxx issued a statement on the resignation of chief operating officer of the Office of Federal Student Aid James Runcie.

The House passed the Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2017 (H.R. 1809) by voice vote. The bill reauthorizes the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) and aims to help State and local leaders better serve juvenile offenders and at-risk youth.

The House passed the Improving Support for Missing and Exploited Children Act (H.R. 1808) by a voice vote. The bill updates the Missing Children’s Assistance Act and aims to strengthen national efforts to recover and protect missing and exploited children.

SENATE

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran (R-MS) released a statement on President Trump FY2018 budget proposal.

Senate Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Patrick Leahy (D-VT) released a statement in opposition to President Trump’s FY2018 budget proposal.

ADMINISTRATION  

The Trump Administration submitted its FY2018 budget request to Congress. The budget request proposes $58.9 billion in discretionary spending for ED, which is a decrease of $9.2 billion, or 13.6 percent, from the FY2017 funding level recently approved by Congress.

ED Secretary DeVos released a statement on President Trump’s FY2018 budget proposal.

Chief operating officer of the Office of Federal Student Aid James Runcie resigned. Politico reported he resigned due to a disagreement on the direction of agency policy and an apparent dispute with ED Secretary DeVos over his scheduled testimony before the House Oversight Committee.

The New York Times is reporting that the Trump Administration is considering moving the student loan functions of ED to the U.S. Department of Treasury.

ED amended Phase II of the Federal student loan servicing solicitation to provide for a single company to collect student debt payments on behalf of ED.

ED Secretary DeVos delivered keynote remarks to the American Federation for Children’s National Policy Summit and introduced the principles of the Trump Administration’s school choice plan.

ED Secretary DeVos announced that ED will read and score applications for the Upward Bound grant program that were deemed ineligible under technical formatting rules.

The National Labor Relations Board ruled that student employees of the University of Chicago’s libraries have the right to hold an election to determine whether they want to unionize.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, in Richmond, VA, largely upheld a Federal district judge’s ruling blocking the implementation of President Trump’s executive order on temporarily suspending new visas for travelers from six Muslim-majority countries, as well as the admission of refugees into the United States.

A group of for-profit colleges filed a lawsuit in Federal court seeking to block the implementation of borrower-defense rules.