What’s Happening in Washington
A summary of recent federal policy actions and a look ahead to the coming weeks
Here’s what’s been happening in federal education policy over November and what’s in store for the month of December.
The 2024 Presidential and Congressional Election Results: The next President of the United States will be former President Donald J. Trump. Trump won against Vice President Kamala Harris, receiving from the Electoral College, 312 votes to Harris’ 226 electoral votes. The Democratic Party also lost the popular vote for the first time in twenty years, with 76,534,481 votes for Trump (50%), and 73,910,579 votes (48.3%) for Harris. The House of Representatives saw 7 seats flipped towards both the Democrats and Republicans, with the Republicans maintaining the majority. There are two races yet to be called in Alaska and California. The Senate saw 3 seats flip to the Republicans, giving them the Senate majority. The Pennsylvania Senatorial race is currently undergoing a recount, to be finalized on November 26, 2024.
The End of the 118th Congress: Lawmakers have returned to Congress for the remainder of the session.. The Continuing Resolution (CR) approved in September ends December 20, 2024, and Congress must pass the FY2025 funding bills before it expires. There is potential for another CR to extend into 2025.
The House Labor-H Appropriations Committee approved $75M for FSCS in FY25, a 50% cut from the FY2024 enacted level. However, the Senate Labor-H Appropriations Committee approved $150M for FSCS in FY2025, which is in line with the enacted level of FY2024. The final number will be shared once the FY2025 funding bills are passed.
President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Department of Education Secretary: Linda McMahon:
On November 20, Trump announced his pick for Secretary of Education. McMahon is the co-chair of Trump’s transition team, and former Administrator of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first administration. She has served on the Connecticut Board of Education in 2009, before she ran for a Connecticut U.S. Senate seat in 2010 and 2012. McMahon is also the former CEO of the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and is the co-founder of the America First Policy Institue, a conservative think tank created after Trump’s 2020 loss to President Biden, supports school choice and voucher programs, workforce development, and the reduction of the Department of Education.
IEL‘s Post-Election Message: Now that the 2024 Presidential Election has come to a close, we look toward the future and will continue to pursue excellence in educational opportunity and equity in the new Trump Administration. As we enter this new chapter, IEL remains committed to ensuring that every child and their family in our country has access to a quality education. Education is the foundation that empowers individuals to reach their full potential, fosters innovation, and enables our nation to remain competitive in an ever-changing global landscape. At IEL, education is at the heart of our shared future. Read the full version of IEL’s Post-Election Message here.
Stronger Together – A Collaborative 119th Congress Agenda: Co-design IEL’s 119th Congress Policy by the People Agenda with members of our network: This policy agenda will reflect the experiences and ideas of the hundreds of leaders we work with across our networks, including you, to tackle the most significant systemic barriers to equity in education. To provide your thoughts on what should be a part of IEL’s 119th Congress Policy Agenda, complete our survey.
Events & Resources
Webinars and Capacity Building Events
- FAFSA Part 2: Strategic Steps & Program Participant Forms on November 26 at 2:00pm ET. Hosted by the Council for Opportunity on Education
- Harnessing AI to Address Chronic Absenteeism in Schools on December 2 at 2:00 pm ET. Hosted by Education Week and Panorama Education
- Session 4 – Engaging the Philanthropic Community as a Catalyst for Scaling up Place-Based Whole Child Partnerships on December 5 at 1:00 pm ET. Hosted by the Department of Education
- Lessons from the Field Webinar – Student Religious Expression in Public Schools on December 11 at 3:00 pm ET. Hosted by National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments (NCSSLE)
- Implementing Family Engagement Strategies in the Second Semester: Root Causes, Resources, and Relationships on December 12 at 1:00 pm ET. Hosted by TalkingPoints
- 2025 Legislative Prep Session: Education Challenges and Solutions from December 3-12. Hosted by the Learning Policy Institute
- Debrief with IEL! Join us for our December Webinar, Education Policy in the New Congress on December 17 at 2:00pm ET.
New Research, Reports, and Analysis
- Honoring Bilingual Students’ Linguistic Diversity & Cultural Heritage Year Round by The 74
- Most U.S. Public K–12 Schools Offer After-School Programs But Many Cannot Accommodate All Students Who Want To Participate by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
- What Happens When Large Numbers of Teachers Quit a School? And What Can Be Done? by The 74
- Why Congress Should Extend Social Security to All Teachers by The 74