June 2025

As the Trump administration released its full budget request for FY 2026 that included deep cuts for federal research agencies, Congress also began consideration and development of appropriations legislation. The House Appropriations Committee is currently working through markups of various subcommittee bills. The Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) Appropriations Subcommittee, which has authority over the National Science Foundation (NSF), is scheduled to hold a markup of its bill on July 7, with full Appropriations Committee markup on July 10. The Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) Appropriations Subcommittee, which has authority over the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is scheduled to hold a markup of its bill on July 21, with full committee markup on July 24. The Senate Appropriations Committee has not released a similar schedule for bill consideration.

Building on testimony provided to the House over the past couple of months, AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine submitted public witness testimony on June 13 to the Senate LHHS appropriations subcommittee in support of at least $900 million for

IES and at least $51.303 billion for NIH foundational research in FY 2026. She also submitted testimony the same day to the Senate CJS appropriations subcommittee in support of at least $9.9 billion for NSF and $2 billion for the Census Bureau in FY 2026.

“Our members, as well as state and federal policymakers and practitioners, rely on IES to provide reliable education statistics, support research to improve academic and non-academic outcomes, and develop evidence-based practices to inform instruction and support student learning at all educational levels,” wrote Levine in her LHHS testimony. “While the administration is justifying the lack of allocation [in the president’s budget request] as part of ‘reimagining a more efficient, effective, and useful IES,’ cancelled contracts, the Department of Education Reduction-in-Force, and the overall push to dismantle the Department of Education have already affected the availability of research findings, data, and evidence-based resources that inform education policy and practice.”

In her CJS testimony, Levine wrote, “AERA would be negligent in our mission and responsibility if we did not register in the strongest possible terms our shock and concern about this administration’s unbridled attacks on the NSF and its mission as an independent agency to advance science across all fields. The actions taken by the Department of Government Efficiency to terminate NSF grants and reduce the workforce of an agency well regarded across both sides of the aisle for its high-quality work, its scientific integrity, and its efficiency with a small staff necessitate Congressional oversight and review.”

Appropriations subcommittees and authorization committees have also held hearings on the FY 2026 budget from agency leaders, including education secretary Linda McMahon. She appeared in front of the Senate LHHS Appropriations Subcommittee on June 3, but did not make any comments directly on IES. Senate Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) asked about the status of the Department’s spend plan for FY 2025. Subcommittee ranking member Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) also raised concerns about the lack of detail in the FY 2025 spend plan and the actions that have been taken on IES programs under this administration.

McMahon also appeared in front of the House Education and Workforce Committee on June 4 to discuss priorities of the Department of Education. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) highlighted the establishment of IES through the Education Sciences Reform Act and asked Secretary McMahon about the statute that authorizes her to dismantle IES. McMahon stated that “none of those contracted services have been affected” and that renegotiation of contracts for the National Assessment of Educational Progress resulted in a savings of $540 billion.

Rep. Glenn (GT) Thompson (R-PA) also raised a concern about the cancellation of a contract that IES had to conduct an evaluation of career and technical education (CTE) required under the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act. He asked McMahon how she would ensure data infrastructure without losing multiple years of data under the evaluation. McMahon stated that the Department would continue to collect the data that it needs to collect.