The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee advanced legislation on Thursday intended to block the transfer of several core Education Department programs to other federal agencies. The bill, which received bipartisan support in committee, seeks to reverse more than 25% of the interagency agreements recently established by the Trump administration to redistribute the department's functions.
The reorganization effort is part of a broader administration strategy to eventually dissolve the Department of Education. Because closing a cabinet-level department requires an act of Congress, Education Secretary Linda McMahon has utilized interagency agreements (IAAs) to move employees and programs to other departments on a temporary basis. McMahon previously informed staff that these moves serve as a "proof-of-concept" to demonstrate to lawmakers that the department’s functions can be managed elsewhere.
The committee’s bill specifically targets plans to move the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Office of Indian Education to the Interior Department, and both the Office of Postsecondary Education and the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education to the Labor Department. While 14 such agreements have been signed to date, the legislation would unwind those that lawmakers argue are misaligned with the programs' original purposes.
Education Department Press Secretary Savannah Newhouse defended the reorganization, stating it was "malpractice" for lawmakers to reject the efforts before they could demonstrate results. In a letter to congressional leaders, Secretary McMahon argued that the agreements have already improved grant competitions and streamlined government operations. However, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) stated that the transfers "fundamentally misunderstand" the history of programs like special education, arguing they should remain where Congress originally placed them.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), the committee chairman, expressed mixed views on the reorganization. While he voted against the bill, he stated that moving special education services to the "tremendous bureaucracy" of HHS would be a mistake, suggesting the Labor Department might be a more appropriate fit. Cassidy noted he is not opposed to all reorganization plans and believes the administration should be permitted to pilot methods for addressing government inefficiencies.
The scale of this shift involves the management of a nearly $80 billion discretionary budget and a $1.6 trillion federal student loan portfolio. For a typical school district or college student, these administrative changes could result in delays or new procedural requirements for receiving federal funds. For example, the transfer of the Office of Special Education affects the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which governs how states and public agencies provide early intervention and special education to more than 7.5 million infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities.
The legislative pushback creates a significant hurdle for the administration’s goal of dismantling the Education Department. By targeting the interagency agreements, Congress is asserting its authority over how executive branch agencies are structured and funded. If the bill passes the full Senate and House, it would set a precedent limiting the executive branch’s ability to use administrative agreements to bypass the need for legislative approval for department-wide closures. The next steps involve a potential vote on the Senate floor, though a specific date has not yet been scheduled.