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 will hold a hearing entitled “Department of Labor (DOL) – Budget Hearing” on Wednesday, June 7, where DOL Secretary Alexander Acosta will testify

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies will hold a hearing entitled “National Science Foundation (NSF) Budget Hearing” on Wednesday, June 7, where NSF Director Dr. France Cordova will testify.

CQ Roll Call reported that some House Republicans are advocating for moving a fiscal year 2018 omnibus appropriations bill before the August congressional recess this summer.

SENATE

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies will hold a hearing entitled “Review of the FY2018 Budget Request for the U.S. Department of Education (ED)” on Tuesday, June 6, where ED Secretary Betsy DeVos will testify.

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies will hold a hearing entitled “Review of the FY2018 Budget Request for DOL” on Thursday, June 8, where DOL Secretary Alexander Acosta will testify.

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) sent a letter to ED Secretary DeVos citing ethics concerns regarding her recent speech at the American Federation for Children’s National Policy Summit, given her prior relationship with the organization.

ADMINISTRATION  

ED Secretary DeVos announced the hiring of several additional senior staff members, including Kimberly Richey as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services; Kathleen Smith as Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary; Steven Menashi as Deputy General Counsel; Nathan Bailey as Communications Director; and José Viana as Assistant Deputy Secretary and Director of the Office of English Language Acquisition.

ED announced that the Internal Revenue Service Data Retrieval Tool is now available for borrowers applying for an income-driven repayment plan.

In the case of Ash Whitaker v. Kenosha Unified School District No. 1, a case involving a transgender male student suing the school district over its bathroom policy, which prohibited Whitaker from using the boys’ bathroom, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit upheld a preliminary injunction that temporarily stops the district from enforcing their policy while the case is tried.

ED launched its new website on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The previous site experienced a prolonged outage in February due to technical issues.

EVENTS

Penn Hill Group plans to provide clients with summaries of the following events next week:

• June 6: Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies hearing “Review of the FY2018 Budget Request for the U.S. Department of Education”
• June 7: House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing “National Science Foundation Budget Hearing”
• June 7 and June 8: House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies and Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies hearings “Review of the FY2018 Budget Request for the U.S. Department of Labor”