New Plan To Complete Work On Appropriations Taking Shape While Committees Move Forward with Hearings

Overview
In the less than twenty-four hours since the return of the U.S. Senate yesterday, and the return of the U.S. House of Representatives today, several key decisions are starting to take shape as Congress recognizes the narrow window they have to complete the annual appropriations process before the expiration of the current continuing resolution (CR). The top priority for Congress is the completion of the nine remaining Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) appropriations bills which must be enacted prior to Friday, January 30, 2026, to avoid another government shutdown.

Below is a summary of recent developments taking shape to move at least some of the bills as part of a “minibus,” an update on House Education Committee hearings being held today and tomorrow, and

FY26 Appropriations
As previously discussed in recent emails it appears that the decision on moving each of the nine remaining FY26 appropriations bills separately or in some form of a combination has been made. Media reports and conversations CSPEN has had with Congressional staff suggest that some of the key appropriations bills – including the FY26 Labor, HHS, and Education proposal – could be added on to the must pass National Defense Authorization Act (legislation that authorizes the Department of Defense’s (DoD) budget and sets policy for the military.

Such a move presumes that the House and Senate Appropriators can come to an agreement on a compromise between two drastically different NDAA and Labor, HHS< and Education bills first. This will likely take some time, but the signals are that the GOP hopes to be able to move forward with votes early in December on a NDAA and whatever else hopes to hitch a ride on the legislation. CSPEN will provide a review of the key differences in the Education portion of the Labor, HHS and Education appropriations bills later this week on our webinar and provide suggestions on outreach your institution may wish to consider as well. House Education & Workforce Hearings
* Full Committee Hearing – “The Future of College: Harnessing Innovation to Improve Outcomes and Lower Costs”

This morning beginning at 10:15 ET the Full Committee on Education & Workforce will hold a hearing to explore ways in which innovations – with a likely emphasis on AI – can help reshape higher education’s future.

Witnesses include:
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

CSPEN will be monitoring the hearing today and provide a summary in tomorrow’s email and more observations on Thursday’s webinar.

* Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Hearing – ““From Classroom to Career: Strengthening Skills Pathways Through CTE”

Tomorrow afternoon at 2PM ET the Ele-Sec Subcommittee will hold a hearing to discuss what should be done to update the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) as workforce education continues to be discussed by the Committee at both the elementary and secondary and postsecondary level.

Witnesses include:
Dr. Deb Volzer, Vice President, Workforce Development, SME
Mrs. Kristi Rice, Cybersecurity Teacher, Spotsylvania County Public Schools
Mr. Braden Goetz, Senior Policy Advisor, Center on Education & Labor
Mrs. Nicole Gasper, CEO, West Michigan Aviation Academy

Again, CSPEN will be monitoring the hearing tomorrow, provide a summary in Thursday morning’s email and more observations on Thursday’s webinar.

AHEAD Committee Negotiated Rulemaking
Not much new today in terms of additional Non-Federal negotiators invited to serve on the Accountability in Higer Education and Access through Demand-driven Workforce Pell (AHEAD) Committee and those who have accepted the Department’s invitation. CSPEN has had conversations with several of the negotiators who have accepted invitations to serve as representatives for several of the twelve named constituencies. The non-federal negotiators are all in the process of preparing for the negotiations – revieing the statute, formulating comments and recommendations, and awaiting further information from the Department.

CSPEN anticipates that the Department may share the full list of non-federal negotiators prior to the first session on December 3^rd, but do not anticipate the non-federal negotiators being given any advance discussion drafts of proposed regulatory revisions prior to the first meeting. This will put significant pressure on all the negotiators to obtain rapid assessment and feedback in real time or nightly in order to be able to fully engage in the discussions.