Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
House subcommittee presses Education Secretary on FY26 proposal to cut department and compress 18 programs into $2 billion block grant
Loading...
Summary
Education Secretary McMahon told the House Appropriations subcommittee the administration's FY26 plan would reduce Department of Education funding by more than 15%, compress 18 programs into a $2 billion block grant to states and keep Title I and IDEA funding intact; lawmakers pressed for details and legal limits.
Education Secretary McMahon told the House Appropriations subcommittee on Wednesday that the administration's fiscal 2026 budget would shrink Department of Education funding by more than 15% and consolidate a set of grant programs into a single $2 billion block grant to states.
The change, McMahon said, would “get rid of that regulatory compliance” that she said consumed money and allow states to redirect funds to local priorities. Ranking Member Representative Rosa DeLauro and other Democrats pressed McMahon for specifics about which programs would be cut, how much would be lost statewide and whether legally directed accounts such as Title I and funding under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act would be preserved.
McMahon told the panel that Title I and IDEA remain fully funded in the requested budget and said the 18 smaller programs would be “compressed into $2,000,000,000, which will operate like a block grant to the states.” Representative DeLauro rejected the move as a cut in practice, saying the committee has “no idea where that $12,000,000,000 is coming from” and that a block grant typically reduces available resources.
Why it matters: The subcommittee noted that most K–12 funding comes from state and local sources and warned that shifting federal dollars into fewer, less-prescriptive streams can produce uneven results across states. Members asked for the administration’s evidence that a $2 billion consolidated grant would preserve the programs’ prior reach and protections.
Details and debate: McMahon repeatedly framed the proposal as returning decisions to states and reducing federal bureaucracy. She said the department had “reviewed our programs and identified spending that does not fulfill the mandate” and cited cutting contracts and reducing staff as part of the administration’s rationale. Members pressed for a program-level table and for legal assurances; McMahon said the request is a “skinny budget” that does not include every line item and that she would follow the law and work with Congress.
The subcommittee highlighted several unanswered questions: which of the 18 programs would be covered by the block grant; how much of the roughly $4.3 billion the committee currently spends on those programs would be preserved; and what specific rules or guardrails would follow if Congress declined to approve the department’s proposals.
What officials said: “We are going to abide by the law,” McMahon told Representative DeLauro when asked whether congressionally appropriated funds for ongoing programs would be fully obligated under the continuing resolution.
Outlook: Lawmakers said they will seek the department’s documentation and studies justifying the consolidation and reductions before deciding whether to accept the request. No committee vote or formal action occurred during the hearing.
