Below is RAMC’s weekly Washington Wrap Up from Wednesday. Find out more about Wrap Up and other RAMC resources here.

ADMINISTRATION

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) approved the first Workforce Pell Grant, which was for an Emergency Medical Technician program at Iowa Central Community College.

ED released a letter from U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon asking universities to publicly describe their commitments to a series of institutional changes by the end of the year.

ED sent a rule that would rewrite accreditation regulations to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review.

CONGRESS

Senate appropriators released text of a continuing resolution to fund Federal agencies through December 11, with some exceptions. The bill includes language to block an OMB rewrite of regulations commonly referred to as the “Uniform Guidance,” a government-wide framework for Federal grants and other Federal financial assistance.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report titled, “College Athletics: Most Programs Spend More Than They Generate in Revenue.”

The GAO released a report titled, “Federal Student Loans: Education Could Better Coordinate with Servicers When Making Program Changes.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) filed cloture on a revised version of the Protect College Sports Act, a bill to regulate college sports, moving the legislation forward toward a vote by the full Senate.

COURTS

A nursing coalition filed an amended complaint challenging ED’s criteria for determining which graduate programs qualify for higher Federal graduate student loan limits.

Education News Headlines
[Click on the link to read the article online]

The Groups Pushing Back on McMahon’s ‘Call to Action’ [Inside Higher Ed]

Student loan delinquencies starting to stabilize, New York Fed says [The Washington Post]
Federal Reserve Bank of New York Report: “Household Debt and Credit Report”

Loss of International Students Could Cost Economy $3.4B [Inside Higher Ed]
NAFSA Report: “Fall 2026 International Student Enrollment Outlook & Economic Impact”

To Improve Student Mental Health, University of Michigan Eases Grading [The New York Times]

Trump Admin Invests $180M in Mining Colleges [Inside Higher Ed]

Trump administration takes aim at website listing diversity scholarships [The Washington Post]

DOJ Sues 3 More States Over In-State Tuition for Undocumented Students [Inside Higher Ed]

College Uncovered: Who should hold power over higher education? [The Hechinger Report]

Helping Caregivers Rebuild Careers [Inside Higher Ed]

Elite colleges are returning to the SAT and ACT. Will others follow? [Higher Ed Dive]

Texas Could Shortchange New Funding Model Champions [Inside Higher Ed]

The Heritage Foundation releases sweeping model bill to overhaul higher ed [Higher Ed Dive]

States Wrestle With Data and Program Tweaks to Access Workforce Pell [Inside Higher Ed]

Justice Department Accuses Duke Law School of Racial Discrimination [The New York Times]

Boston University offers free tuition to families earning up to $200,000 [The Washington Post]

Cassidy Eyes Final Push to Pass College Transparency Act [Inside Higher Ed]

450K student loan borrowers eligible for debt relief after court ruling [The Hill]

Fitch: New visa limits could hurt international enrollment and revenue [Higher Ed Dive]

Public Colleges Anchor State Workforce Pipelines [Inside Higher Ed]

Committee News and Schedule, Schedule for House and Senate Floor

House Committee on Ways and Means
Press Release: Big, Beautiful Success Story: Thanks to Working Families Tax Cuts, 7 Million Children Already Have a Brighter Future Ahead

Senate Majority Leader
Press Release: Thune: Senate Republicans Deliver for the American People

Senate Minority Leader
Press Release: Leader Schumer Statement On The Passage Of The Continuing Resolution

Press Release: Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Slamming Trump’s Disastrous Economic Policies For Slower Economic Growth And Devastating Job Loss

Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Press Release: Chairman Cassidy Applauds Senate Confirmation of HELP Committee Nominees

House Committee on Education and Workforce
Press Release: Chairman Walberg Statement on July Jobs Report

Press Release: Ranking Member Scott Statement on July Jobs Report

Senate Committee on Appropriations
Press Release: Senator Collins Delivers Remarks Urging Quick Passage of Stopgap Funding Measure

Press Release: Senator Murray on Passage of CR

House Committee on Appropriations
Press Release: DeLauro Statement on Senate Passage of Continuing Resolution

Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
Press Release: FACT CHECK: President Trump Underscores PCSA Protections for Women’s Sports, Calls on Senate to Pass Bill

Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Press Release: Chairmen Cassidy, Walberg React to New Report Showing Biden-Harris Student Loan Mismanagement

House Committee on Education and Workforce
Press Release: Walberg, Cassidy: GAO Report Reveals Biden-Harris Student Loan Mismanagement Left Borrowers and Servicers in Chaos

Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
Press Release: Ricketts, Hickenlooper Join Protect College Sports Act

Press Release: Trump Administration Recommends Passage of Protect College Sports Act

Senate Minority Leader
Press Release: Leader Schumer Floor Remarks on Senate Democrats’ Commitment to Fighting for American Families Throughout the Bipartisan Appropriations Process

House Committee on Education and Workforce
Press Release: Chair Walberg’s Requested GAO Report Finds Colleges Shift Athletics Costs to Students

Department of Education and the Administration

GAO Report: Priority Open Recommendations: Office of Management and Budget

DOL Press Release: Acting Secretary Sonderling Statement on July Jobs Report

ED Press Release: U.S. Department of Education Investigates Alleged Antisemitic Harassment at Two California Universities

GAO Report: Federal Student Loans: Education Could Better Coordinate with Servicers When Making Program Changes

IES Blog: Announcing IES’s Planned FY27 Grantmaking

GAO Report: College Athletics: Most Programs Spend More Than They Generate in Revenue

GAO Report: DOGE Wall of Receipts: More Transparency Needed on How Savings Are Derived from Contract, Grant, and Lease Terminations

Legislative Movement in Congress

H.R.6500 — Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027
Sponsor: Smith, Jason [Rep.-R-MO-8] (Introduced 12/09/2025) Cosponsors: (1)
Committees: House – Ways and Means
Committee Report: H. Rept. 119-416
Latest Action: Senate – 08/10/2026 Message on Senate action sent to the House.

H.R.6500 — Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027
Sponsor: Smith, Jason [Rep.-R-MO-8] (Introduced 12/09/2025) Cosponsors: (1)
Committees: House – Ways and Means
Committee Report: H. Rept. 119-416
Latest Action: Senate – 08/08/2026 S.Amdt.6750 Amendment SA 6750, under the order of 8/8/2026, agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.

S.5377 — A bill to amend the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to establish certain procedures for consideration of appropriation bills, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Scott, Rick [Sen.-R-FL] (Introduced 08/07/2026) Cosponsors: (0)
Committees: Senate – Rules and Administration
Latest Action: Senate – 08/07/2026 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.

H.R.2069 — Stop Secret Spending Act of 2025
Sponsor: Moore, Barry [Rep.-R-AL-1] (Introduced 03/11/2025) Cosponsors: (3)
Committees: House – Oversight and Government Reform
Latest Action: Senate – 08/07/2026 Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.

H.R.5235 — Skills-Based Federal Contracting Act of 2025
Sponsor: Mace, Nancy [Rep.-R-SC-1] (Introduced 09/09/2025) Cosponsors: (2)
Committees: House – Oversight and Government Reform | Senate – Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Latest Action: Senate – 08/06/2026 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.

H.R.10044 — AI Tax and Work Protection Act
Sponsor: Casar, Greg [Rep.-D-TX-35] (Introduced 08/06/2026) Cosponsors: (2)
Committees: House – Education and Workforce; Ways and Means
Latest Action: House – 08/06/2026 Referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee.

S.5305 — A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to modify the grant program for mental health and substance use disorder services for students in higher education and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline program to address youth suicide prevention and intervention, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: McCormick, David [Sen.-R-PA] (Introduced 08/06/2026) Cosponsors: (3)
Committees: Senate – Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Action: Senate – 08/06/2026 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Press Release: Senators McCormick, Kaine, Ricketts and Hassan Introduce Bipartisan Campus Lifeline Act to Strengthen Student Mental Health and Suicide Prevention

S.4668 — Protect College Sports Act of 2026
Sponsor: Cruz, Ted [Sen.-R-TX] (Introduced 06/02/2026) Cosponsors: (7)
Committees: Senate – Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Latest Action: Senate – 08/05/2026 Cloture motion on the motion to proceed to the measure presented in Senate.

S.5263 — A bill to amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to provide to States and local areas information on the best practices for addressing the effects that substance use disorder has on the workforce, and to provide local areas with grants to provide training activities related to the treatment and prevention of substance use disorder.
Sponsor: McCormick, David [Sen.-R-PA] (Introduced 08/05/2026) Cosponsors: (1)
Committees: Senate – Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Action: Senate – 08/05/2026 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Press Release: Senators McCormick, Fetterman Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Strengthen Addiction Treatment Workforce

S.Res.831 — A resolution recognizing the 100th anniversary of Northwest Mississippi Community College and celebrating a century of educational excellence, workforce development, student success, and service to the people of Mississippi and the United States.
Sponsor: Wicker, Roger F. [Sen.-R-MS] (Introduced 08/05/2026) Cosponsors: (1)
Latest Action: Senate – 08/05/2026 Submitted in the Senate, considered, and agreed to without amendment and with a preamble by Unanimous Consent.

Federal Education Training and Grant Opportunities, Notices

ED Comment Request: Federal Work Study (FWS) Wages for Student Aid Index. Comments due on or before September 9, 2026.

IES Comment Request: Shaping the Future of Loan Repayment. Comments due on or before September 9, 2026.

IES Grant Notice: Research Training Programs in the Education Sciences, Research Training Programs in Special Education, Statistical and Research Methodology in Education, Using Longitudinal Data to Support State Education Policymaking, and Using Longitudinal Data to Support State Education Policymaking in Special Education Program Competitions. Applications due on or before October 1, 2026.

ED Comment Request: RSA-509, Annual Protection and Advocacy of Individual Rights Program Performance Report. Comments due on or before September 8, 2026.

Today’s Federal Register.