Bipartisan appropriators released a fiscal‑2026 plan that preserves core Education Department funding and rejects the Trump administration’s proposed deep cuts. The joint House‑Senate package would keep discretionary Education Dept. funding near prior-year levels and maintain programs the administration had targeted for elimination, including TRIO, FSEOG and GEAR UP. The move signals congressional resistance to dramatic agency downsizing and gives colleges greater revenue certainty for the coming year. Lawmakers also flagged concerns about administrative transfers of programs and demanded transparency before further structural changes, setting up a tussle between Capitol Hill and the executive branch over higher‑education priorities.