How Congress's Budget Could Hamper Trump ED Agenda

"These new restrictions-which can be found throughout the appropriations bill for the Department of Education and other sections of the 11-part funding package that was signed into law last week-are part of what policy experts describe as a bipartisan attempt to rebuke the Trump administration's budget proposal and restore Congress's power of the purse. Historically, the language of these budget bills has largely stayed the same, serving as little more than a template into which lawmakers plug that year's dollar amounts and policy riders."

"Following a year of unprecedented funding decisions that often ignored congressional orders and redirected taxpayer dollars to different programs than the ones originally intended, Congress has had enough. New legislation to fund the government for the fiscal year includes a number of significant changes that Democrats argue will prevent the Trump administration's unilateral decisions to defund some grant programs and move money to others."

Congress responded to a year of executive reallocation of appropriated funds by enacting new restrictions across the fiscal-year funding package. The restrictions appear throughout the Department of Education appropriations and other sections of the 11-part bill signed into law. Lawmakers framed the changes as a bipartisan effort to rebuke unilateral budget moves and restore congressional control over spending. Historically, budget bills served mainly as templates while detailed allocations were provided in a Joint Explanatory Statement treated as binding. During the first year of the administration, the president used executive authority to reroute dollars between projects, shifting Education funds from basic student needs, veterans, and rural colleges toward accreditation reform, short-term job training and artificial intelligence, and reallocating minority-serving institution grants to HBCUs.

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