Senate HELP Committee Markup This Thursday Includes Five Higher Education-related Bills & Nomination of Keith Sonderling to be Secretary of Labor

Overview
This Thursday, July 30th, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) is scheduled to consider a series of ten bills and three nominations in a closed-door Executive Session.

Of the ten pieces of legislation introduced the HELP Committee will consider half of the bills proposing revisions and additions to higher education policy one way or another. Below CSPEN has provided a very summary of the particulars of each of the five bills of interest to the higher education community.

In addition, the HELP Committee is also slated to confirm three Trump Administration nominees, including Keith Sonderling who has been nominated to be Secretary of Labor.

Higher Education-related Bills To Be Considered
S. 2511 – The College Transparency Act
The proposed legislation would repeal the current prohibition on the development of a student-level database and mandate the development and maintenance of a secure and privacy-protected student data system within four years from the date of enactment. Key data elements include institutional reporting of student enrollment, persistence, retention, transfer, and completion measures for all credential levels separately (including certificate, associate, baccalaureate, and advanced degree levels), within and across institutions of higher education (including across all categories of institution level, control, and predominant degree awarded).

S. 4097 – The State-based Education Loan Awareness Act
The proposed legislation would exclude State-based education loan programs from certain requirements related to preferred lender agreements.

S. 5046 – Name TBD
The proposed legislation would prohibit the Secretary of Education from entering into or continuing to implement, any agreement with another Federal agency, including procuring services, contracting, obtaining goods or services; transferring activities or appropriations; using research, equipment, or facilities; jointly carrying out projects of common interest, or entering into a similar agreement with another federal agency relating to the functions of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, the Office of Postsecondary Education, the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, and the Office of Indian Education.

S. 5038 – The Special Education Administration Protection Act
The proposed legislation would prohibit the transfer of the functions of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

S.3589 – The Respond, Innovate, Succeed, and Empower Act (RISE Act)
The proposed legislation would make a series of changes to the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, designed to support easier recognition of and accommodation for students with disabilities seeking to enroll in postsecondary education and institutional collection and reporting of specific data related to students with disabilities formally registered with the institution’s office of disability services.

Secretary Of Labor Nomination
Acting Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as United States Deputy Secretary of Labor on March 12, 2025. President Donald J. Trump designated him Acting Secretary of Labor on April 20, 2026, and nominated him to serve as Secretary of Labor on June 29, 2026. In June 2026, President Trump also designated Sonderling as Acting Director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics.

As Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor, Sonderling serves as the President’s principal advisor on labor and workforce matters and leads the Department’s efforts to administer and enforce federal laws protecting workers’ wages, workplace safety and health, retirement and health benefits.