Reconciliation Hurdles, Aftermath of RIF in ED, and IDR Plan Applications Back Online
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March 27, 2025
Leading the News this Week
With Congress back in session, the Republican majorities in both chambers are working through the challenge of taking their different budget resolutions and generating an identical one in order to continue the reconciliation process. Please read on for more details on how Congressional Republicans are approaching the task of reconciliation.
News in Higher Education
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House and Senate GOP are Working Through Reconciliation Hurdles
Senate Majority Leader, John Thune (SD) has set a goal of the House and Senate producing an identical budget resolution by April 11th. Currently, the plan includes approving a budget resolution that allows each chamber's committees to decide how much money each would need to trim from the programs they oversee. This decision only delays the task of having one agreed-upon reconciliation plan. In the case of the House Education and Workforce and Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committees, at a minimum, the House aims to cut $330 billion while the Senate would like to cut $1 billion.
Aftermath of RIF at ED
This week, Inside Higher Ed reported the aftermath of the reduction in force (RIF) that took place at the Department of Education (ED) two weeks ago, which reduced its workforce by nearly fifty percent. Sources have reported that ED is now facing difficulty in fulfilling statutory obligations ranging from administering federal student aid to enforcing anti-discrimination laws. There are also reports of reinstated employees who were considered essential ex post facto. This includes tech staff at the Office of Federal Student Aid who were reinstated after a nationwide service outage prevented access to the FAFSA form. Please contact ACCT at publicpolicy@acct.org if your institution experiences difficulty with accessing programs administered by the Department of Education as a result of the Department's staff changes.
Department of Education Restores Access to Online IDR Applications
The Department of Education has reopened the online application for income-driven repayment payment (IDR) plans and loan consolidation forms, which were formerly unavailable as the Department was revising the forms to comply with an injunction issued by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. This injunction placed a block on implementing the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan and portions of other IDR plans. The Department has said that borrowers can apply to the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Plan, Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Plan, and Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) Plan. Meanwhile, this comes nearly two weeks after the American Federation of Teachers filed a lawsuit against the Department for removing online access to IDR forms.
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