Sponsors (2)
The bill transfers many education-related functions to Labor to consolidate workforce and training programs and preserve continuity, trading potential short-term disruption, administrative costs, and accountability risks for improved program alignment and constrained federal staffing growth.
Federal beneficiaries, contractors, and program participants (including students and grant recipients) keep existing contracts, grants, licenses, and legal protections with minimal interruption as functions move from Education to Labor.
Students, teachers, and job-seekers could see better alignment between education programs (K–12 and higher education) and workforce training, potentially improving job-relevant outcomes for graduates.
Federal employees whose positions move with transferred functions are preserved by reassignment to Labor and can continue working during the transition, reducing job loss and preserving institutional knowledge.
Students, schools (including HBCUs, HSIs), and people with disabilities risk disruption, delayed services, and deprioritization of traditional education goals and disability accommodations as oversight and program priorities shift to the Department of Labor.
State and local education agencies, colleges, and grantees will likely face administrative and compliance costs to adapt to new DOL rules, reporting systems, points of contact, and contract changes.
Transferring authorities, centralizing OMB reorganization powers, and permitting successive redelegations create legal uncertainty, litigation risk, and diffuse accountability that could slow implementation and obscure who is responsible for decisions.
Based on analysis of 11 sections of legislative text.
Transfers administration of specified HEA higher-education programs and related functions from the Department of Education to the Department of Labor.
Official title: To ensure the Department of Labor will manage certain postsecondary education programs, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 9, 2026 by Mark Harris · Last progress July 9, 2026
Transfers administration and related functions for multiple higher-education programs from the Department of Education to the Department of Labor, generally effective six months after enactment, and allows earlier execution of transfers beginning on enactment. It moves program authorities, personnel, contracts, funds, records, and liabilities, preserves existing orders, proceedings, and legal effects, and requires OMB certification that transfers do not increase total federal FTEs.