Senate Appropriations Committee Approves Moderate FY26 Labor HHS Education Bill and Defense Bill

On July 31st, the Senate Appropriations Committee debated and approved its version of the FY26 Labor HHS Education Appropriations and Defense bills, clearing them for floor action after Congress’s August recess. The Defense bill does not include an explicit call out for funding of the World Language Advancement and Readiness Grants but does include budget increases for the Language Flagship Program and the Language Training Center. More details will be forthcoming about the Defense bill soon.

While the Labor HHS Education bill made a few significant cuts, including slashing $40 million from the Department of Education’s Program Administration budget, overall most education programs received near-level or level funding over last year. Title I-A and IDEA even received plus-ups. The bill does not include any language to codify the President’s proposals to create a massive K-12 block grant or alter Title I and IDEA. It also continues to fund many of the programs that the President’s budget proposed for elimination and continues funding for the Institute for Educational Sciences, the Department’s research arm which has seen all of its staff terminated. The House's version, which has not been introduced or marked-up, will likely look substantially different. This will make it extremely difficult to negotiate a final funding deal.

The Senate’s Labor HHS Education bill incorporates new language that is designed to protect the Department of Education from dismantling, notably language that requires “the Department of Education maintain the staff necessary to ensure it carries out its statutory responsibilities, including carrying out programs and activities funded in this bill in a timely manner.” It also prohibits the Department from transferring “significant responsibilities related to carrying out title I, part A of the ESEA or parts B and C of the IDEA from the Department of Education to another department or agency.” It is worth noting that the bill does not bar transferring all responsibilities from these programs to another agency and does not mention any other Departmental programs or services, including Career and Technical Education, which the Department plans to shift to the Department of Labor. Responding to the recent funding delay crisis, the bill also includes new requirements for the Department of Education to make formula grants available to states and districts on time. 

For language education, the news is mainly positive. Title III-English Language Acquisition and Title I-C Migrant Education, most recently targeted for elimination in the President’s budget and subjects of the recently ended FY25 federal education funding freeze, received level funding. In the Legislative Report accompanying this bill, the Committee demonstrated that it valued Title III and placed pressure on the Department to continue supporting all of the activities that the now disbanded Office of English Language Acquisition performed: “The Committee recognizes that every State has English language learners who rely on targeted instruction and dedicated programmatic support to access the curriculum and meet academic standards. The Committee notes the role that the former Office of English Language Acquisition played in managing the Native American and Alaska Native Children in Schools grants, National Professional Development grants, and the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition program as well as providing technical assistance to States and enforcing title III requirements of the ESEA. The Committee intends for these activities to continue as the Department carries out its statutory responsibilities under ESEA with respect to English learner students and re- quests a briefing not later than 90 days after enactment on the Department’s implemented actions and plans to improve outcomes for English learners, which shall also include information on staffing levels and fulfillment of statutory requirements.”

Similarly, Title II-A, the $2.19 billion professional development formula grant, and Title IV-A, the $1.38 billion flexible block grant, also received level funding from the Committee. The President’s FY26 budget had proposed to consolidate these two programs with 16 other K-12 programs into a single block grant, and then slash overall funding by 70%. Most recently, FY25 funding allocations for both programs had been held up by the Department of Education and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). For Title IV-A, the Committee “directs the Department to obtain and examine data on State and local expenditures, outlined by specific authorized activities, and provide information about how LEAs plan to evaluate the effectiveness of their activities.”

Longstanding federal education programs supporting Alaska Native Education, Native Hawaiian Education. and Indian Education all received level-funding. Under Indian Education’s National Activities line item, the bill’s Legislative Report allows more than 20% of funds to be used for Native American Language Immersion. The Legislative Report speaks highly of the value of Native American Language Resource Centers (NALRC), saying they are “integral to supporting the revitalization of such Native American languages, including by encouraging and supporting the use of Native American languages as a medium of instruction. In addition, the Committee recognizes the need to encourage and support early childhood education programs, elementary schools, secondary schools, and institutions of higher education to include Native American languages in the curriculum as the primary mode of instruction, and in the same manner as other world languages, including through cooperative agreements and distance education, and to grant proficiency in Native American languages the same full academic credit as proficiency in other world languages.” However, the Senate bill would actually provide NALRC less money this year than last year.

On the higher education front, Title VI of the Higher Education Act, which supports domestic programs and the international Fulbright/Hays program, sustained a cut of about $5.3 million. In its description of the domestic programs supported under Title VI, the Legislative Report states: “The Committee urges the Secretary to preserve the program’s longstanding focus on activities and institutions that address the Nation’s need for a strong training and research capacity in foreign languages and international studies, including increasing the pool of international experts in areas that are essential to national security and eco- nomic competitiveness.”

Below is a breakdown of key K-12 program funding levels: 

JNCL-NCLIS will continue to share updates as they are available.