CONGRESS

The Senate Appropriations Committee released guidance for fiscal year 2026 appropriations requests. For the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) Subcommittee, the deadline to submit Congressionally Directed Spending requests is May 16, and the deadline for programmatic requests is May 23.

The Senate passed its version of the budget resolution by a 51 to 48 vote, followed by the House which approved the Senate-passed version by a 216 to 214 vote. Under the resolution, the House Education and Workforce Committee and Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee must report their reconciliation bills by May 9.

The House Committee on Education and Workforce favorably reported H.R. 2617, Say No to Indoctrination Act, on a roll call vote of 18 to 12; H.R. 2616, Parental Rights Over the Education and Care of Their Kids Act (PROTECT Kids Act) , on a roll call vote of 18 to 12; H.R. 2262, Flexibility for Workers Act, on a roll call vote of 18 to 13; and H.R. 2270, Empowering Employer Child Care and Elder Solutions Act, on a roll call vote of 18 to 13. Additionally, the Committee adversely reported H.Res. 237, Of Inquiry requesting the President and directing the Secretary of Education to transmit, respectively, certain documents to the House of Representatives relating to the reduction in force and other downsizing measures at the Department of Education, on a roll call vote of 18 to 12.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights Chair Mike Lee (R-UT), and House Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform and Antitrust Chair Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI) launched a bicameral investigation into potential Ivy League tuition pricing collusion, requesting a variety of documents, including communications between the institutions regarding tuition rates and admissions practices.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) wrote a letter to Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Russell Vought reminding him of OMB’s statutory requirement to post apportionment data on a public website.

GAO published a report titled, “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Federal Actions Needed to Help Connect College Students with Benefits.”

Twenty-three Senate Democrats wrote a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon expressing concern over the Trump Administration’s recent actions to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the impact this will have on students with disabilities and their families. The Senate Democrats also urged Sec. McMahon to respond to a set of questions regarding students with disabilities by no later than April 11, 2025.

Seven Senate Democrats wrote a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, expressing concern that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Head Start plans to close five regional offices across the U.S. and requesting responses to questions regarding the potential impact of the closure of the Region 5 Head Start office specifically.

House Education and Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee Ranking Member Alma Adams (D-NC) sent a letter to Acting Director of the Institute of Museum and Library (IMLS) Services Keith Sonderling, requesting documents and information regarding IMLS’ response to recent efforts to dismantle the agency.

ADMINISTRATION

President Trump released a memorandum for the heads of executive departments and agencies titled “Directing the Repeal of Unlawful Regulations.”

POLITICO reported that ED extended the deadline from April 14 to April 24 for State education agencies (SEAs) to report on their state overall and collect responses from their local education agencies (LEAs) certifying their compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard Supreme Court decision as a condition of receiving Federal financial assistance.

OMB released two memorandums on Federal agency AI use and procurement.

COURTS

The Supreme Court granted the Trump administration’s emergency request to terminate funding for the Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) and Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) grants while ongoing litigation continues.

The Supreme Court lifted one of two lower court preliminary injunctions blocking the Trump administration from firing probationary workers. Shortly after, a Federal appeals court lifted the remaining lower court injunction on this matter.

A district court judge permanently blocked the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from limiting indirect research cost funding to 15%. The decision may be appealed by the Trump Administration.