After a brief government shutdown, yesterday, Congress passed a minibus that included final Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 funding for the Departments of Education (ED) and Labor (DOL). The House approved the package Tuesday evening in a 217-214 vote. The Senate had previously passed the measure on Friday in a 71-29 vote after first making changes to the legislation. The appropriations bills included in the minibus are:
- Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies
- Defense
- Homeland Security
- Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies
- Financial Services and General Government
FY 2026 funding for the last appropriations bill, for the Department of Homeland Security, was not included in the bill. This agency was instead funded through a new continuing resolution lasting until Feb. 13. Negotiations in Congress and with the White House are continuing over that bill.
For FY 2026, ED will be funded at $79 billion, which is approximately $217 million above FY 2025 levels. The Perkins State Grant was level funded, as was the Perkins National programs line item.
Most other education programs in the bill were also level funded, a significant victory after both the Administration and House had proposed steep cuts earlier this year. The bill maintains funding for the maximum Pell Grant at $7,395 for the 2026-2027 academic year. It also maintains funding for Title I of the Every Student Succeeds Act at approximately $18.4 billion, and for adult education programs.
At the Department of Labor, the bill provides $285 million to support the implementation of the Executive Order (EO), “Preparing Americans High-Paying Skilled Trade Jobs of the Future,” which sets the goal of surpassing one million new active apprentices.
A detailed summary of the bill can be found here.
The final bill does not include specific language that would prevent ED from entering Inter-Agency Agreements like the one covering the transition of the administration of the Perkins Act to the Department of Labor. However, there is general language prohibiting transferring funds to other agencies, and directs the agencies involved to provide Congress with biweekly reports on the implementation of any interagency agreement. It is unclear exactly how these provisions will be interpreted.
If you have any questions, please contact ACTE’s Government Relations Manager, Jimmy Koch (jkoch@acteonline.org).
