Democratic leaders slam Trump effort to transfer some Education grant programs to Labor Department

Senior Democrats in a letter on Wednesday objected to Education Department plans to largely transfer responsibility over certain grant programs to the Labor Department, arguing the move represents another attempt to eliminate the agency without congressional approval. 

According to court documents, the departments on May 21 entered into an interagency agreement under which Labor would take over administration of career and technical education assistance grants under the 2006 Perkins Act as well as Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Title II grants for adult literacy and education programs. 

In their letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon, the lawmakers wrote that the department lacks the authority to mostly hand over control over the programs, which would involve a transfer of up to $2.7 billion in fiscal 2025 alone. 

“Respectfully, federal agencies are not interchangeable entities that simply hand out money to states and localities,” they wrote. “Instead, each agency provides its own specific expertise in the administration of federal programs, in this case education programs.” 

The letter was signed by Senate Appropriations Committee vice chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies ranking member Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., House Education and Workforce Committee ranking member Bobby Scott, D-Va., and House Appropriations Committee ranking member Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. 

The members of Congress also expressed frustration that they were not notified about the interagency agreements and predicted that incorporating another department into the programs’ operations would lead to inefficiencies. 

“This likely would mean states, institutions of higher education and school districts would have to work with two federal agencies in the administration of these programs, leading to delays in agency decision-making and grant administration,” they contended. 

The interagency agreement is currently on hold due to an injunction that required Education to bring back its employees who were laid off under reduction-in-force procedures. Education Chief of Staff Rachel Oglesby wrote in a June 10 court filing that the injunction was preventing the agency from “pursuing operational efficiencies and cost-savings.” 

Madi Biedermann, deputy assistant secretary for communications at Education, said in a statement to Government Executive that the agreement with Labor is “one of many existing agreements ED has with other agencies to collaborate on services for the American people.” She also said that the department would respond to the Democrats’ letter. 

President Donald Trump in March signed an executive order that requires the drawdown of the Education Department while still preserving many of its programs. Court documents also show that Education, prior to the injunction, was negotiating a memorandum of understanding through which employees would be detailed to the Treasury Department to work on student loan management.