Democratic Appropriators Push Back on Reprogramming
In response to the Department of Education’s recent repurposing of federal funds, Democratic Appropriations leaders in both the House and Senate jointly sent a letter to Secretary Linda McMahon saying, “the Department is unilaterally overriding funding allocations that have long been included in bipartisan annual appropriations bills—funding decisions that collectively reflect bipartisan agreements and priorities of Congress and the states, communities and constituents we represent.”
Traditionally, funding implemented under a continuing resolution (CR) maintained specific programmatic funding levels at the previously enacted amounts. While it can be argued that the Department is using its reprogramming authority to an extent that is not consistent with congressional intent or past practice, the administration has been clear about its goals to defund the government.
The Department is purportedly using flexibility provided by the current federal budget, passed via CR, to maintain overall funding for higher education programs but redistribute funds within the higher education accounts. The Department claims that Congress “did not specify which specific grant programs had to be funded, or what the funding levels should be.”
Over the course of the last month of the FY 2025 fiscal year, the Department has used reprogramming authority to redistribute funds under the Higher Education Act.
The minority-serving institutions grants under Titles III and V, along with Title II Teacher Quality Partnerships and Title VI International Education grants, were all abruptly cancelled and redistributed to Historically Black College and University grants. Institutions have received notifications of non-continuation saying the grant is “inconsistent with the administration’s priorities.”
While there has been no official notification from the Department regarding the status of TRIO grants, the program has been under review for months and some continuation grants have been cancelled and funds redistributed to other programs.
The teacher preparation grants and International Education programs being canceled are also targeted for elimination in the administration’s FY 2026 budget request, while the minority-serving institutions grants are being deemed racially discriminatory.
As FY 2025 winds down, Congress has yet to finalize an agreement on FY 2026 spending. If a continuing resolution cannot be negotiated by September 30, the government will shut down.
For more information, please contact:
Stephanie T. Giesecke