On July 31, 2025, the US Senate Appropriations Committee voted 26-3 to advance the FY26 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill, one of the twelve appropriations bills that make up the federal budget. In a bipartisan move, the committee rejected the President’s Budget Request (PBR) to eliminate or reduce programs important to public universities. US Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) serves on the committee.
The committee rejected the Administration’s request to zero out funding for TRIO, the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need program, and Title VI international education programs under the US Department of Education. The bill also rejects the Administration’s request to cut Pell Grants, keeping the annual maximum award at a flat $7,395 instead of lowering it to $5,710.
In addition to flat funding for the Pell Grant, the Senate committee provided flat funding for the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG) and Federal Work Study, TRIO and GEAR UP programs, Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need, and Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS).
The Labor-HHS-Education bill includes $47.2 billion in base funding for the National Institutes of Health, a $400 million increase from FY25 enacted levels and a significant increase from the PBR, which had called for a 39% cut to the agency. The bill also funds the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) at $768 million, a 3% decrease from FY25, and includes language to maintain current (FY24/FY25) funding and staffing levels necessary for IES and the National Center for Education Statistics to fulfill their statutory responsibilities.
These outcomes follow a significant campaign by education, research, and business advocates to protect funding for student aid and federally sponsored research.
The full text of the bill; a bill summary; report language; and adopted amendments are all available on the committee’s website.
Both the US House and the US Senate are now on recess until after Labor Day. When members of Congress return, they will have four weeks to pass the remaining appropriations bills and avoid a government shutdown on October 1.
The House and Senate have been operating with different allocations for each appropriation bill, making it unclear how they will reconcile differences. For example, the Senate passed the Commerce-Senate-Justice bill with flat funding for the National Science Foundation. The House version of the bill cuts NSF from $9 billion to $7 billion. The PBR would have reduced NSF funding by 60%.
View the status of FY26 funding priorities important to research universities and their students.
Senate Democrats have made clear that their support for the remaining bills rests on Senate Republicans rejecting additional rescissions packages requested by the White House. According to Politico Pro, however, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought has “openly scorned” bipartisan negotiations and is planning to “send more requests to claw back funding.” The outlet noted that “Democrats and even some Republican senators warn such a move would poison the well before the Oct. 1 shutdown deadline.”