Sec. McMahon Defends Education Budget

During testimony before the Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon defended the President’s Budget Request for FY 2027 for the Department and emphasized her support for agency reorganization, a streamlined management structure, and a proposed reduction in spending.

McMahon highlighted the budget proposal to fully pay for the projected Pell Grant shortfall and maintain the current maximum grant of $7,395, for which she received bipartisan praise. However, Democrats voiced concern about funding cuts to other programs to pay for Pell.

There was significant bipartisan concern from senators about the budget’s proposed elimination of TRIO funding in FY 2027. Senators were also uneasy about the Department’s current TRIO competition for FY 2026, which changed program priorities to focus on workforce pipeline training and apprenticeships rather than college access and completion. Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) led the pushback against McMahon in support of TRIO being administered as Congress intended.

Democrats also raised concerns about dismantling the Department and using inter-agency agreements (IAAs) to shift programs and staff to the Department of Labor and other agencies.

Democrats also emphasized the issues they have with the dismantling of the Department and the inter-agency agreements (IAA) to move programs and staff to the Department of Labor and other agencies to do the same work they had been doing previously. Democrats argued the IAAs have created more bureaucracy rather than less.

The Senate is expected to write its education funding bill this summer.

For more information, please contact:
Stephanie Giesecke