Legislative Updates – January 21, 2025

Last week, President Biden issued his farewell address to the nation on Wednesday, ahead of President-Elect Trump’s inauguration.

The Senate held a number of confirmation hearings, and will continue to hold more in the coming weeks. Education Secretary nominee Linda McMahon and Labor Secretary nominee Lori Chavez-DeRemer are on a glidepath to confirmation, but neither has a confirmation hearing date set yet.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R-OH) selected Ohio Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted (R-OH) to fill the Senate seat vacated by Vice President-Elect J.D. Vance, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) selected Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (R-FL) to replace Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) seat once he leaves office, as Rubio is expected to be confirmed as U.S. Secretary of State. Both states would hold special elections in 2026 for the remaining two years in each seat’s term.

A list of key Congressional Committee rosters at this time may be accessed here.

President-Elect Trump nominated Keith Sonderling to be Deputy Secretary of DOL. He was previously Vice Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Acting Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division at DOL.

House Committee on Education & Workforce Holds Organizing Meeting

The House Committee on Education & Workforce held its organizing meeting on Wednesday. It was the first hearing led by new Chair Tim Walberg (R-MI), who succeeded Dr. Virginia Foxx (R-NC). He has served on the Committee for sixteen years under both Republican and Democratic Chairs and was a co-sponsor of both WIOA reauthorization and Workforce Pell in the last Congress.

Mr. Walberg highlighted his friendship with Mr. Scott and his desire to disagree without being disagreeable. He said it was a high privilege to chair this important committee that has a global impact and wanted to ensure it was done for the good of the people. He said firm debate was necessary, but creative tension about issues produced the best results possible but he wanted to avoid political posturing and name calling.

The new chair highlighted his desire to advance the incoming Administration’s agenda. On the education front, he was focused on reducing runaway college costs, advancing school choice and holding woke higher ed institutions accountable particularly those who he felt allowed anti-Semitism on campus. On the workforce front, which he said was a “high calling of this Committee” he wants to unleash the ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit of the American workforce by bolstering policies that support multiple pathways for success — and wants students, workers, and employers to have skills needed to be competitive in the 21st century.

Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA), who has served both as Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee in prior Congresses, expressed his shared goal of ensuring everyone has access to high quality education, jobs, and health care. He was eager to pick up where they left off last Congress and pass WIOA reauthorization, which he said would be good for workers, employers, and the economy. He hoped Chair Walberg would be willing to start with this important bipartisan bill.

Walberg reiterated his desire to find areas where the two sides can agree on and find solutions. As a former minister, he asked for the indulgence of the Committee and offered a prayer “of dedication and unity, to do things for the betterment of this nation.”

Along with striking a bipartisan tone, Chair Walberg announced Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT) would serve as Vice Chair of the full Committee and Chair of the Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee. Newly elected Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R-WA) will serve as Vice Chair of the House Committee on Education & Workforce Subcommittee. A full list of Committee Members can be found here.

Dr. Foxx (R-NC) to Chair Rules Committee

Dr. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) who previously served as Chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, has been chosen by Speaker Mike Johnson to lead the Rules Committee, which in many ways is the most powerful House committee, since it is the Committee that determines which bills receive floor time. Dr. Foxx’s ascension to Chair of Rules is very good news for education and workforce programming, she is expected to stay active on the Education and Workforce Committee — and has historically fought for floor time for education and skills related bills.

FY 25

Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) said on Thursday that topline talks were beginning. Collins said that House and Senate bills are roughly $90 billion apart, but expressed hope that final bills could be passed before current stopgap funding expires on March 14. Without an agreement and passage by then, another Continuing Resolution would be needed.

Reconciliation

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) put forth a timeline for a budget resolution, the first step in crafting a reconciliation package. Johnson’s timeline is to mark up a budget resolution the week of February 3, hold a floor vote on the budget resolution the week of February 10, with Senate consideration the week of February 17, and House passage the week of February 24. Johnson hopes Congress would craft the reconciliation in March, passing it before April 10, when the House is currently scheduled to depart for a two-week Easter recess.

However, House and Senate Republicans have yet to agree on a reconciliation strategy, with Speaker Johnson favoring one comprehensive bill and Senate Majority Thune (R-SD) favoring a two-step approach, with an initial bill to secure a win on border security, energy, and defense, and a second package to address extending the 2017 tax cuts.

The 30-40 member conservative House Freedom Caucus released their own two-step reconciliation plan last week.

And the House Budget Committee Republicans have put together a 50-page document with potential options that would provide savings. The document may be accessed here.