This was the last week in session for the House before the August recess. They adjourned mid-week and are not scheduled to return until September 2. The Senate spent the week working on appropriations bills and cleared procedural hurdles to bring the first of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 bills to the floor. They will be in session for at least one more week, where they are expected to continue to focus on appropriations bills, as well as approving nominations. On the Administration side, the biggest news of the week was that on Friday, an announcement was made that the remainder of the almost $7 billion in education funding that had been withheld from states was being released, and should be available to states and local grantees soon (although perhaps with additional compliance guardrails)! Other activities this week include:

• Senate Announces Education Funding Bill Markup: The Senate Appropriations Committee announced it will mark up its FY 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill on Thursday, July 31. This will be our first chance to see what Congress has in mind for Perkins funding and other education and workforce programs.
• Administration May Include Education Funding in Next Rescission Package: It has been widely reported this week that the Administration is considering sending a second rescission package to Congress, rolling back previously appropriated but unspent FY 2025 funds. This package could potentially include education funding. No further details are known at this time, but we will share more information as soon as it is available.
• ED Continues to Move Forward on Partnership with Department of Labor (DOL): The Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) continues to take steps to implement the partnership it formally announced with DOL earlier this month. While we have been assured that at this time, ED staff contacts and processes for accessing funding remain the same for Perkins grantees for the time being, but that could change. More perspective on the move is provided from OCTAE Acting Assistant Secretary Nick Moore in this blog post. We remain very concerned about the implications of this move – many of which are outlined in this blog post from a former ED staff member now at New America.
• ED Announces Negotiated Rulemaking on Higher Education Issues: Following the passage of the budget reconciliation bill, which contained significant changes to federal student aid, ED is convening two negotiated rulemaking panels to begin developing implementation plans for the new law. The panel that will consider guidelines for short-term Pell will convene in December and January. There will also be opportunities for public comment.
• OCTAE Announces Next CTE Challenge: OCTAE recently announced that the next challenge in its CTE Momentum series will launch in early August and be focused on AI. The Your AI Horizons Challenge “will invite high school CTE students to explore how artificial intelligence can enhance careers across all industries.” More information will be available soon.
• Office of Indian Education Seeking Input: ED’s Office of Indian Education announced it is holding a Tribal consultation session on FY 2026 grantmaking priorities on August 26 at 2:30 Eastern. The consultation will include the Native American CTE Program funded by Perkins. Click here to register, and questions and written comments can be sent to TribalConsultation@ed.gov.

• Senate HELP Committee Approves More Education Nominees: On July 24, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved two more nominees for ED posts: Mary Christina Riley as assistant secretary for legislative and congressional affairs, and David Barker for assistant secretary for postsecondary education. It is unclear when these nominees, or others like the OCTAE assistant secretary, will be confirmed by the full Senate.

• ED Announces AI as Priority in Grant Applications: Through a notice published in the Federal Register on July 21, ED announced a new proposed priority and definitions around advancing artificial intelligence in education for its competitive grant programs. The priority also addresses providing professional development for educators on AI, as well as providing students with exposure to AI concepts and technology to ensure workforce readiness. Comments on the proposed grant priority are due August 20. The White House also announced a new AI action plan this week, with strong workforce development themes.