Reconciliation Bill Passed the House, Higher Education Hearings, Ruling Against Ending the Department of Education
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Publisher's Note: For next week, in observance of Memorial Day, ACCT's twice-weekly LAW Update will only go out on Thursday, May 29th, unless there is an urgent federal update that needs to be disseminated.
May 22, 2025
Leading the News this Week
Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, released the markup schedule for the 12 appropriation bills that together would determine how the government is funded for fiscal year 2026. These markups start the first week of June and run to the end of July. Specifically, July 21, 2025, is the subcommittee markup for Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, with the Full Committee markup scheduled on July 24th. Meanwhile, after overnight negotiations and committee debates, the House passed its reconciliation bill in the early morning today. Keep reading for more information.
News in Higher Education
Reconciliation Bill Passed in the House: Next Stop is the Senate
This morning at 6:54 AM, the House Republicans secured the 215th vote that guaranteed the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Thus, Speaker Mike Johnson (LA-04) was able to keep his promise of passing a House reconciliation bill by the Memorial Day deadline. Passing the One Big Beautiful Act was not easy, however. Along the way to passage, Speaker Johnson and President Donald Trump had to convince key Republican holdouts in the House Budget and Rules committees to advance the bill so that it could ultimately reach the floor. Now, the bill is headed to the Senate chamber.
In the meantime, ACCT encourages you to reach out to your Senators and let them know of the harmful changes from eliminating Pell Grant eligibility to students enrolled in less than 7.5 credits, as well as the issues with risk-sharing found in this bill. Take action here!
Week of Hearings for Higher Education
This week, both the House and Senate held hearings pertaining to higher education. In the House, the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies held a Budget Hearing where members were able to ask their witness, Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, about the Trump administration's education policies and budgetary vision. One notable takeaway is the bipartisan support for TRIO programming, which President Trump has requested the elimination of funding for. Meanwhile, Secretary McMahon defended the Trump administration's budget requests.
Over on the Senate side, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing titled The State of Higher Education. Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart, Chancellor of the Austin Community College District, served as a witness. This hearing featured vital discussions on the Pell Grant, funding that the current reconciliation bill puts in jeopardy for low-income students who cannot enroll in more than 7.5 credits at a time.
Federal Judge Ruled Against the Dismantling of the Department of Education
Today, a U.S. District Judge ruled that the Trump administration's reduction of force (RIF) of the Department of Education interrupted services for students, families, and states, creating less efficiency, thus striking down the administration's argument that the Department's termination of thousands of employees was for the sake of eliminating bureaucratic bloat. The judge found that this activity was an effort to eliminate the Department of Education, an action that cannot be carried out without Congressional approval. In this ruling, Judge Myong Joun issued an injunction that blocks the Department from continuing its mass terminations, he ordered reinstatement of fired employees, and he mandated a halt to the President's directive to transfer functions of the Department to other agencies.
Department of Education Released Secretary McMahon's Supplemental Grant Priorities
Earlier this week, the Department of Education (ED) announced Secretary McMahon's Grant priorities, which will shape the Discretionary Grant Programs run by ED. Her focus will lie on evidence-based literacy, expanding education choice, and returning education to the states. While the main target of these priorities is the K-12 space, higher education could see an opportunity as the announcement listed "concurrent enrollment programs, career preparation, postsecondary distance education, skills-based education, and apprenticeships" as options for expanding education choice, and so they are potential recipients of these prospective grant competitions.
Advocacy Update
Now that the House Education and Workforce Committee no longer has reconciliation on their to-do list, ACCT is reaching out to committee staff and staffers from members' offices to orient their focus on reauthorizing the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). One feature of this reauthorization would be the codification of the Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants (SCCTG). The December 2024 draft of the Continuing Resolution, a government funding package, included reauthorization language, which was later removed in the final bill in favor of a slimmer funding package.
For more on ACCT's list of advocacy priorities, please view our Green Sheet.
To further enhance our advocacy efforts, the Government Relations Team invites you to email publicpolicy@acct.org to share how recent developments at the federal level have impacted your students and your campus.
May 23 - Deadline for ACCT's Leadership Congress Presentation Proposals
- May 28, 2:00PM ET– New Carnegie Classifications: Community College Impacts and Opportunities
- May 31 - Public Diplomacy English Language Program: Grant Application Due
- June 1, - Deadline to submit nominations for negotiators for negotiated rulemaking committee on Student Loan and Affordability
- June 6, 1:00PM ET - LAW Live Webinar
- June 17 - Preservation and Access Education and Training Grant closing date
- June 20 - Fire Science Innovations through Research and Education (FIRE) Grant Application Due
- Jul 11, 2025, 01:00 PM ET - LAW Live Webinar
- Aug 1, 2025, 01:00 PM ET - LAW Live Webinar
- Sep 5, 202,5 01:00 PM ET - LAW Live Webinar
- October 22 - 25 - ACCT Leadership Congress
Outreach Efforts
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Both this new presidential administration and new Congress have brought with them a flurry of developments in the federal landscape that can make keeping up a monumental task. ACCT's Government Relations team is here to help by offering a 45-minute to an-hour federal update session to community college leadership teams who are ACCT members. To request a session, fill out this form and please email publicpolicy@acct.org with any questions.
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