House and Senate Hold Policy and Budget Hearings on the Dept. of Education

With the fiscal year (FY) 2026 appropriations process ramping up, Congress has been holding hearings on budget and policy priorities for various departments and agencies, including the Department of Education. On June 3, the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) Appropriations subcommittee invited Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to defend the department’s FY 2026 budget request. The following day, the House Education and Workforce Committee held a hearing “Examining the Policies and Priorities of the Department of Education,” with Secretary McMahon again testifying before the committee.

The Senate LHHS budget hearing focused on the detailed Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 budget request recently released by the Department, which proposed significant cuts to the Institute for Education Sciences (IES) and other dedicated grant programs (see related article). Several Republican committee members, including Chair Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV) praised Secretary McMahon and the proposed cuts for “reducing regulatory burden” and returning education back to states and parents, though they expressed concern over cuts to some programs. Several committee Democrats, including Ranking Member Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) expressed concern that the Department’s restructuring of grant programs, introduction of a block grant to states, and slashing of staff essentially amounted to an unauthorized closure of the department. In her opening statement, Senator Baldwin emphasized the destructive impacts of the half-a-billion-dollar cuts to education research and statistics within the department. A recording of the Senate hearing can be found here.

The House Education and Workforce Committee focused on many of the same issues as the Senate budget hearing, though there was more direct mention of the harm the IES faces in the proposed budget. In his opening statement, Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA) called attention to how the closure of the IES would negatively affect efforts to improve students’ academic outcomes through evidence-based measures and impede congressional efforts to allocate funds to programs with proven success. Further, Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) questioned Secretary McMahon about the almost 90% cut to IES staff and emphasized that the Institute could not properly operate with so little capacity, thus halting research and data collection efforts. A recording of the House hearing can be found here.

During the House hearing, Secretary McMahon provided little detail about how IES might continue to perform its fundamental duties; in response to a question from Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA) about the Department’s cancelation of the Evaluation of Career and Technical Education, Secretary McMahon claimed that the department would continue to collect necessary data, though some changes were being made in the educational data they planned on collecting. She did not expand on what these changes would be.

 Stay tuned to COSSA’s continued coverage on the FY 2026 appropriations process.

This article was contributed by COSSA Intern Eva Lettiere.