A package of new House Education and the Workforce committee bills would permanently shift major U.S. Department of Education programs to other federal agencies, Republicans say, as part of the broader push to dismantle the department’s current structure. The bills would codify many of the interagency “agreements” the Trump administration has already used to move program management. Among the proposed moves: K-12 formula grants such as Title I and career and technical education programs could move to the Department of Labor; certain family-engagement and social-service grant functions could shift to the Department of Health and Human Services; and the Treasury Department would take over the federal student loan program. The package would not formally close the Education Department, but would lock in many operational changes. Education stakeholders are likely to focus on how shifting oversight affects compliance, data reporting, and the day-to-day administration of student support programs. The bills also arrive amid lingering uncertainty about where the Education Department’s research arm—Institute of Education Sciences—would land, leaving gaps in a full operational picture. The legislation faces procedural and political hurdles in the Senate and could still change as it moves from committee consideration toward broader negotiations over federal accountability and student finance.
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