GOP Senators, Alongside Democrats, Reject Trump's Entire Slate of Proposed Education Budget Cuts
The Senate has taken a significant step in advancing a federal budget bill for education, labour, and health, tentatively scheduled for a full floor vote in September. This bill aims to extend current-year funding and staffing levels for key Education Department offices that have been dismantled by the Trump administration in recent months.
The Trump administration's budget documents proposed slashing overall Education Department investments by 15 percent. However, the Senate version of the budget differs from the White House's education budget proposal on nearly all priorities.
The bill proposes modest increases over current funding levels for key education programs like Title I for low-income students, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act for special education, and Head Start for early-childhood instruction. In contrast, the Trump administration's budget documents proposed rewriting special education law to give states more leeway on spending funds for students with disabilities.
The bill maintains all existing federal K-12 grant programs as separate funding streams with roughly level year-over-year funding. However, the Trump administration's budget documents proposed consolidating 18 separate K-12 grant programs worth $6.5 billion into a single funding stream worth just $2 billion.
Several courts have ruled in favor of plaintiffs and ordered the administration to restore frozen funds. Administration officials have teased plans to formally request that Congress rescind some current-year education appropriations, but this proposal hasn't yet materialized.
The Trump administration has terminated or disrupted billions of dollars for teacher preparation, mental health, education research, and pandemic relief without seeking Congress's permission. Vought, the Office of Management and Budget director, has been criticized by Sen. Tammy Baldwin for improperly meddling with spending decisions.
Vought has proposed a plan to withhold funds until they expire on Sept. 30, potentially subverting congressional spending decisions. This move could bolster efforts to oppose illegal actions by the Trump administration, as a bipartisan vote in favor of maintaining federal education investments could signal.
The Education Department recently ended a freeze on nearly $7 billion of education funds for the upcoming school year, following objections from lawmakers from both parties. The bill includes new requirements for the Education Department to send funds to states and schools on time, maintain necessary staffing, and prohibit offloading core functions to other agencies.
The Senate budget bill includes funding for several programs and agencies that the Trump administration has already moved to unravel, including AmeriCorps and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Numerous lawsuits challenging the Trump administration's unilateral cuts to funding already approved by Congress are underway.
However, not all senators are in agreement. Sen. Chris Murphy voted no on the education spending package out of concern that the president may ignore the will of Congress expressed in the legislation. The names of the senators who rejected the Trump administration's proposal to reduce K-12 education funding on July 31 are not publicly specified in the available data.
The Government Accountability Office has found four instances in which the Trump administration illegally impounded federal funds, including grants for public schools to improve their facilities. This ongoing controversy adds another layer to the debate surrounding the administration's handling of education funding.
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