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

CONGRESS

U.S. House of Representatives Republicans voted to put forward current House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) as their nominee for Speaker of the House in a closed-door vote earlier this week. Rep. Scalise has since announced that he has withdrawn his name from consideration for the position. Currently, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA) are both seeking the support of House Republicans to be elected Speaker.

Chairwoman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce Virginia Foxx (R-NC) sent U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona a letter on companies operating student loan scams and steps that the U.S. Department of Education (ED) has taken to prevent such scams.

ADMINISTRATION

ED held the first of three negotiated rulemaking sessions focused on the U.S. Secretary of Education’s ability to “enforce, pay, compromise, waive, or release any right, title, claim, lien, or demand, however acquired” in relation to student loan debt.

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) completed its review of ED’s proposed final rules for financial responsibility, ability to benefit, certification procedures and administrative capability.

EVENTS

Penn Hill Group plans on providing clients a summary of the following events next week:

October 18: House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee Hearing on “Safeguarding Data and Innovation: Building the Foundation for the Use of Artificial Intelligence.”

October 19: House Committee on Education and the Workforce Subcommittee Hearing on “Protecting Kids: Combatting Graphic, Explicit Content in School Libraries.”

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES

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