Republican Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (A-AK) are working with Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) on a bill to block part of the Trump administration’s effort to dismantle the Department of Education (ED).
On Thursday, the Senate HELP (Health, Education, Labor and Pensions) Committee approved the bill, S. 5046, in a 13-9 vote to prohibit ED from moving special education and several other education offices to other federal agencies, Politico reported.
The bill is in response to ED entering into at least a dozen interagency agreements (IAAs) to move certain functions to other departments as the Trump administration waits for Congress to follow through on the president’s campaign promise to eliminate the department. Officially ending the department would take an act of Congress, as it was Congress that created it 45 years ago under President Jimmy Carter.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon has called the IAAs “proof of concept” and said she hopes Congress will be more willing to end ED if lawmakers see the successful transition of major functions to other federal agencies. A spokesperson for ED called the new bill “entirely premature.”
A statement from ED spokeswoman Savannah Newhouse says:
Secretary McMahon promised Congress a proof of concept that is currently underway and delivering results across our partner agencies, and it is entirely premature to sabotage this effort before it has the chance to eliminate bureaucratic barriers and fully deliver the results that our students, families, and educators deserve.
Collins called the bill “straightforward” and said it keeps the administration of certain education programs “where Congress specifically put them and where they belong.”
Murkowski claimed the programs Congress told ED to oversee are there “for a good reason.”
“We cannot lose sight of the fact that at the end of the day, we’re talking about children, whether it’s children with special needs, whether it’s children in our elementary schools, whether it’s our Native students — making sure that we don’t lose that focus,” Murkowski said.
The bill would specifically stop the agency from moving the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, as well as the offices of Elementary and Secondary Education, Postsecondary Education, and Indian Education to other federal agencies. The bill is in addition to Congress approving non-binding language in the most recent spending bill telling ED it has no authority to move functions to other departments.
The bill does not halt every interagency agreement, although Democrats want to stop those too, according to the report.
The future of the bill is “unclear,” per the report. However, Kaine told the outlet he hopes it is considered in appropriations discussions. The bill is directly at odds with a House bill the Education and Workforce Committee voted on last month to permanently move certain ED functions to other agencies.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
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