A House panel on Monday unveiled a budget proposal that would slash funding for the U.S. Department of Education (ED) by 15% in the 2026 fiscal year, echoing President Donald Trump’s calls to shrink the agency.
The GOP-led plan would reduce ED’s budget to $67 billion, fulfilling several of Trump’s stated priorities, including cuts to student aid and oversight programs. However, it stops short of adopting the most severe measures advanced by the Trump administration, such as lowering the maximum Pell Grant award. The proposal instead preserves the current $7,395 maximum award, while Trump has suggested reducing it by nearly a quarter.
Rep. Robert Aderholt, an Alabama Republican who chairs the House Appropriations education subcommittee, defended the plan as fiscally responsible and aligned with the White House. “Even last year, we were dedicated to getting government spending under control,” Aderholt said in a statement. “But now, it’s particularly encouraging to have a partner in the White House that shares this commitment.”
Among the most significant proposed changes are the elimination of the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) program, which provided $910 million in need-based aid to low-income undergraduates in fiscal 2025, and steep reductions to Federal Work-Study. Funding for the latter would fall to $779 million — a cut of $451 million from current levels. Trump’s own plan calls for shrinking the program even further, down to $250 million.
The House proposal would also cut $49 million from the Office for Civil Rights, leaving the agency with $91 million to investigate campus discrimination and harassment complaints. Additional reductions target grant programs that support teacher preparation, campus-based childcare, and foreign language instruction.
At the same time, the measure rejects some of Trump’s more aggressive cuts. Funding for TRIO and GEAR UP, which provide nearly $1.6 billion in support for disadvantaged students preparing for and completing college, would remain intact. The bill also proposes a symbolic change: renaming Workforce Pell Grants as “Trump Grants” to highlight what Republicans describe as the president’s commitment to workforce development.
The proposal sets up a clash with the Senate, where appropriators advanced a separate budget plan in July that maintains current ED funding levels at $79 billion. If lawmakers cannot reconcile their differences before the new fiscal year begins on October 1, the government risks a shutdown.
Critics of the House plan warn that the cuts would disproportionately harm low-income students and limit oversight on issues of equity and safety. For now, the fate of these proposals rests on upcoming negotiations with the Senate.
