Senate Vote On Secretary of Education Nominee McMahon Tops Busy List of Activities This Week & The Two Previous Weeks, Too
Overview
It has been a little while since you have heard from us between the hosting or our highly successful 7th Annual Higher Education Policy Meeting and last week’s abbreviated schedule due to the holiday; but that doesn’t mean that things haven’t been happening here in Washington and elsewhere and we wanted to make certain that you were aware of all that we have remained focused upon on behalf of the community.
Executive Orders
Commencing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy (www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/commencing-the-reduction-of-the-federal-bureaucracy/)
(a) The non-statutory components and functions of the following governmental entities shall be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law and such entities shall reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law…
Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President’s “Department of Government Efficiency” Deregulation Initiative (www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/ensuring-lawful-governance-and-implementing-the-presidents-department-of-government-efficiency-regulatory-initiative/)
“It is the policy of my Administration to focus the executive branch’s limited enforcement resources on regulations squarely authorized by constitutional Federal statutes, and to commence the deconstruction of the overbearing and burdensome administrative state. Ending Federal overreach and restoring the constitutional separation of powers is a priority of my Administration.
(a) Agency heads shall, in coordination with their DOGE Team Leads and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, initiate a process to review all regulations subject to their sole or joint jurisdiction for consistency with law and Administration policy. The classes of regulations to be identified include:
(i) unconstitutional regulations and regulations that raise serious constitutional difficulties, such as exceeding the scope of the power vested in the Federal Government by the Constitution;
(ii) regulations that are based on unlawful delegations of legislative power;
(iii) regulations that are based on anything other than the best reading of the underlying statutory authority or prohibition;
(iv) regulations that implicate matters of social, political, or economic significance that are not authorized by clear statutory authority;
(v) regulations that impose significant costs upon private parties that are not outweighed by public benefits;
(vi) regulations that harm the national interest by significantly and unjustifiably impeding technological innovation, infrastructure development, disaster response, inflation reduction, research and development, economic development, energy production, land use, and foreign policy objectives; and
(vii) regulations that impose undue burdens on small business and impede private enterprise and entrepreneurship.
Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies (www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/ensuring-accountability-for-all-agencies/)
…in order to improve the administration of the executive branch and to increase regulatory officials’ accountability to the American people, it shall be the policy of the executive branch to ensure Presidential supervision and control of the entire executive branch. Moreover, all executive departments and agencies, including so-called independent agencies, shall submit for review all proposed and final significant regulatory actions to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the Executive Office of the President before publication in the Federal Register.
Keeping Education Accessible and Ending Covid-19 Vaccine Mandates in Schools (www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/keeping-education-accessible-and-ending-covid-19-vaccine-mandates-in-schools/)
It is the policy of my Administration that discretionary Federal funds should not be used to directly or indirectly support or subsidize an educational service agency, State educational agency, local educational agency, elementary school, secondary school, or institution of higher education that requires students to have received a COVID-19 vaccination to attend any in-person education program.”
Nominations Sent to the Senate (www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/nominations-sent-to-the-senate/)
Daniel Aronowitz, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary of Labor
Kirsten Baesler, of North Dakota, to be Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education
David Keeling, of Kentucky, to be an Assistant Secretary of Labor
Nicholas Kent, of Virginia, to be Under Secretary of Education
Jonathan McKernan, of Tennessee, to be Director, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection for a term of five years
Kevin O’Farrell, of Florida, to be Assistant Secretary for Career, Technical, and Adult Education, Department of Education
Mary Riley, of the District of Columbia, to be Assistant Secretary for Legislation and Congressional Affairs, Department of Education
Implementing the President’s “Department of Government Efficiency” Workforce Optimization Initiative (www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/implementing-the-presidents-department-of-government-efficiency-workforce-optimization-initiative/)
To restore accountability to the American public, this order commences a critical transformation of the Federal bureaucracy. By eliminating waste, bloat, and insularity, my Administration will empower American families, workers, taxpayers, and our system of Government itself.
Department of Education Nominations
Secretary of Education Nominee Linda McMahon has been confirmed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and is awaiting full Senate proceedings. CSPEN anticipates that the full Senate will move to confirm Ms. McMahon this week.
Secretary of Labor Nominee Lori Chavez-DeRemer to have a second hearing within the Senate HELP Committee on Thursday, February 27th. CSPEN anticipates Committee confirmation this week and full Senate consideration in the weeks ahead.
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Douglas Collins confirmed by the Senate 77-25 on February 4, 2025
Department of Education Actions
Electronic Announcement (GE-25-02) – Extension of the Completers List and Reporting Process for Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment Until September 30, 2025 (fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/library/electronic-announcements/2025-02-14/extension-completers-list-and-reporting-processes-financial-value-transparency-and-gainful-employment-until-september…)
This Electronic Announcement informs the community that the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) is extending the deadline for evaluating Completers’ Lists and reporting data associated with Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment (FVT/GE) until September 30, 2025. The Department is extending the deadline for both evaluation of Completers Lists and debt reporting for the 2024 cycle to give additional time to institutions:
That were unable to complete the reporting for any reason by February 18, 2025, including challenges submitting the required data to the Department; and
That wish to make corrections to previously submitted data to the Department, including enrollment data supporting Completers Lists.
Congressional Hearings & Legislation
A full House Education & Workforce Committee hearing, “Unleashing America’s Workforce and Strengthening Our Economy.” Is scheduled for Wednesday, February 26th at 10:15 AM.
A full House Education & Workforce Committee markup took place on February 12th on a series of bills including:
* H.R. 1048 (www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1048?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%22H.R.+1048%22%7D&s=9&r=1) , Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions (DETERRENT) Act
+ Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (ANS (republicans-edlabor.house.gov/UploadedFiles/H.R._1048_DETERANS_01_xml.pdf) )
* H.R. 649 (www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/649?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%22H.R.+649%22%7D&s=8&r=1) , Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025
+ ANS (republicans-edlabor.house.gov/UploadedFiles/H.R._649_THOMPA_010_xml.pdf)
* H.R. 1069 (www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1069?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%22H.R.+1069%22%7D&s=7&r=1) , Promoting Responsible Oversight to Eliminate Communist Teachings (PROTECT) Our Kids Act
+ ANS (republicans-edlabor.house.gov/UploadedFiles/H.R._1069_ANS_001_xml.pdf)
* H.R. 1005 (www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1005/text?s=4&r=1&q=%7B%22search%22%3A%22H.R.+1005%C2%A0%E2%80%93%22%7D) , Combating the Lies of Authoritarians in School Systems (CLASS) Act
+ ANS (republicans-edlabor.house.gov/UploadedFiles/H.R._1005_ANS_001_xml.pdf)
* H.R. 1049 (www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1049?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%22H.R.+1049%C2%A0%E2%80%93%22%7D&s=6&r=1) , Transparency in Reporting of Adversarial Contributions to Education (TRACE) Act
+ ANS (republicans-edlabor.house.gov/UploadedFiles/H.R._1049_ANS_001_xml.pdf)
Key Higher Education Legislation Introduced
H.R. 1174
A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide that non-Federal revenue generated through certain distance education programs may be counted purposes of the non-Federal revenue requirements applicable to proprietary institutions of higher education (commonly known as the “90/10 rule”).
H.R. 1176
A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to clarify the clock hour requirements for certain eligible programs under title IV of such Act.
National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity Meeting
The first NACIQI meeting under the leadership of the Trump Administration took place last week on February 19-20, 2025. At the meeting NACIQI reviewed “Compliance Reports’ on behalf of four accrediting agencies which included: The American Occupational Therapy Association, Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education, Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges, and The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education.
Next Steps
While this is just a very brief 30,000 foot summary of the topics and issues, CSPEN is already hard at work putting together portions of our PowerPoint slide deck for this weeks Federal Legislative & Regulatory Update webinar where we will do a little deeper dive into all of these topics and more.
