On Tuesday, the House Education and Workforce Full Committee held a nearly four hour hearing on “Examining the Education Department’s Policies, Priorities, and FY 2023 Financial Audit Failure” with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. The hearing was highly contentious, with a central focus on the FAFSA rollout, student loan forgiveness, Title IX rule, and college campus protests. Chair Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and her fellow Republicans stood firm on their stance against student loan forgiveness, often questioning the Department of Education’s Constitutional authority. Republicans raised concerns about additional regulations coming from the Department of Education, including Perkins and distance education. A significant portion of the hearing focused on the protests on college campuses and the new Title IX rule. Other topics included federal workforce return to office, foreign influence on college campuses, transgender athletes, oversight on closed or merge colleges, mental health, illegal immigrants in the school system, homeless students, and IDEA.

Our hearing memo may be accessed here.