HOUSE and SENATE

House and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairs Nita Lowey (D-NY) and Richard Shelby (R-AL) have agreed upon another continuing resolution (CR) to fund the Federal government through December 20. The House and Senate are expected to pass the CR next week before the current CR runs out after November 21.

The House passed the Protect the GI Bill Act (H.R.4625) by a voice vote.

The House Education and Labor Committee scheduled a hearing for Tuesday, November 19 on the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED’s) handling of Borrower Defense to Repayment claims, with Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos listed as the only witness. However, Secretary DeVos has declined the invitation to testify on November 19 but indicated a willingness to testify at a later date. The Committee announced that ED will provide the Committee with documents related to this matter by the end of the day today, which press reports cite as the result of an imminent subpoena for such documents.

ADMINISTRATION and SUPREME COURT

ED announced the new members of the National Assessment Governing Board.

The U.S. Supreme Court began oral arguments over whether the Administration can end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

EVENTS

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

• November 19: House Education and Labor Committee hearing on “‘With Extreme Displeasure’: Examining the Education Department’s Refusal to Provide Debt Relief to Defrauded Students” at 10:15am
• November 20: House Education and Labor Subcommittee hearing on “Examining the Policies and Priorities of the Labor Department’s Apprenticeship Program” at 2:00pm

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES 

Penn Hill Group provides a list of grant opportunities and summaries for select grants. Please visit our website for more information.