When Republicans took control of the House in January, one of the deals Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) made to garner votes from rank-and-file members was to cut federal spending in the 2024 fiscal year to FY 2022 levels. In response to this agreement, which would essentially result in a 22% funding cut, Ranking Member of the Committee on Appropriations Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) asked all agency heads to determine what the impact would be on the programs their agency supports if spending reverted to FY 2022 levels.  

According to the agency responses that Rep. DeLauro received, cutting spending back to the FY 2022 levels would result in devastating cuts. 

The Department of Education response highlights a few programs as examples of what the proposed cuts would mean for students.  For the Pell Grant program, a 22% cut would result in a $1,000 cut to the maximum grant and eliminate 80,000 students from program eligibility. For the Federal Work-Study program, such a cut would result in less aid for all program recipients, eliminate 85,000 students from eligibility, and force institutions to make difficult decisions about how to administer the program with greatly reduced funding. 

The proposed cuts assume Defense and Veterans funding is protected, which would result in a 22% cut to non-defense discretionary funding, or about $130 billion across domestic programs. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona outlined the possible impact to Department of Education programs, noting “cuts on this scale would have very real and damaging impacts on our families, our communities, our economy and our competitiveness.” 

After the agency responses provided to Rep. DeLauro made headlines, House Appropriations Committee Chair Kay Granger (R-TX) issued a statement saying her committee will “find ways to reduce spending without impacting our national defense, our commitment to veterans, or the services that Americans depend on.”

As part of the next steps in the budget and appropriations process, agency heads will be testifying before the House Budget and Appropriations Committees. These impact statements are expected to be a critical part of the committee discussions as members work on what level to set for FY 2024 spending.