Negotiated Rulemaking Planning & Preparation House & Senate Education Appropriations Activity & House Education Committee Hearing

Overview
As the federal government returns for its first full week of work post government shutdown both Capitol Hill and the U.S. Department of Education are coming out of the gate fast to make up for lost time. On Capitol Hill CSPEN is closely monitoring and gathering information on whether the House and Senate will seek to bring the Labor, Health and Human Resources, Education and Related Agencies Fiscal Year 2023 (FY26) bills to their respective chamber’s floor for consideration – more on the status below. Meanwhile, the House Committee on Education and Workforce announced last week its intent to hold a Full Committee hearing tomorrow entitled “The Future of College: Harnessing Innovation to Improve Outcomes and Lower Costs.” And last, but certainly not least, CSPEN, along with the higher education community and interested and effected constituencies continue to learn more regarding the group of twelve negotiators who have been invited – and confirmed – their commitment to serve on
the Accountability in Higher Education and Access through Demand-driven Workforce Pell (AHEAD) Committee federal negotiated rulemaking.

Here is a brief update.

FY26 Appropriations Status
As noted in last Friday’s CSPEN email, as Congress returns to Washington the primary focus of most of the lawmakers is completion of the nine remaining FY26 appropriation bills which are in various stages of the legislative process. With respect to Labor, HHS and Education both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have passed their respective proposals, and both are awaiting floor time. That is, unless, to expedite the process and achieve passage of this and the other eight appropriations bills Congress will combine them into one or more “omnibus” or “minibus” proposals. We anticipate more details on the direction House and Senate leaders plan to take to be provided this week.

House Committee on Education & Workforce Hearing
Just a short while ago, at 10:30 AM ET, the House Education Committee provided an updated announcement regarding tomorrow’s rescheduled Full Committee hearing. As detailed in the release, tomorrow’s hearing entitled The Future of College: Harnessing Innovation to Improve Outcomes and Lower Costs” will include testimony from a group of four witnesses including:
• Dr. Jeffrey Docking, President, Adrian College
• Dr. Kollin Napier, Director, Mississippi Artificial Intelligence Network
• Dr. Wil Del Pilar, Senior Vice President, Higher Education, EdTrust
• Mr. Tade Oyerinde, Chancellor, Campus⁠.edu

The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10:15 AM ET tomorrow.

CSPEN will be monitoring this important hearing and invite you to join us on the livestream here (https://www.youtube.com/live/zEpQLJJEUCw) .

2025-2026 Institutional Accountability and Workforce Pell Regulatory Development
CSPEN continues to gain additional information on the Non-Federal negotiators selected and invited to participate in the upcoming AHEAD Committee negotiations. The most recent addition to the list of confirmed individuals selected to participate is Dennis Cariello with Hogan Marren Babbo & Rose who has accepted the invitation to serve as the primary negotiator. We anticipate that the Department will have completed the confirmation process by the end of the week and that a complete list of Committee negotiators may be posted next week.