Weekly Update- 9/15/2025
Appropriations
House: Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and House GOP leadership face the immediate challenge of releasing the text of the continuing resolution (CR)…
Senate: If the House advances the CR early, Senator John Thune could move to bring the bill to the Senate floor by the end of the week. However, without unanimous consent…
President and Administration:
Trump escalates attacks on political opponents after Charlie Kirk’s killing: President Trump and his administration are intensifying efforts to blame Democrats exclusively for political violence following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, using the killing to justify potential…
Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Politics: Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. released his MAHA report, which outlines nearly 130 recommendations aimed at improving children’s health but stops short of imposing new regulations. The report focuses on calling for more…
High Court agrees to hear Trump tariff case: The Supreme Court has agreed to hear two major legal challenges to the President’s use of emergency powers to impose widespread tariffs, setting oral arguments for early November on an accelerated schedule. The cases center on Trump’s use of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to collect tens of billions…
Fear over RFK Jr. vaccine panel’s looming decisions on childhood shots: Vaccine advisers on the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) are set to meet this week (Sept. 18-19) to consider weakening or removing recommendations for several routine childhood vaccines, including Covid-19, hepatitis B, MMRV, and RSV. Public health experts warn this could lower…
Education:
Federal guidance for English learners rescinded: The Trump administration rescinded the 2015 federal “Dear Colleague” guidance outlining schools’ legal responsibilities to English learners, saying it is “not in line with Administration policy.” The guidance, issued under former President Barack Obama…
Trump canceled millions for special education teacher training: The Administration has abruptly canceled over $30 million in federal special education grants, jeopardizing 25 projects across 14 states that support training for special education teachers and services for students with…
National student test scores hit historic lows: Newly released results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress show historic declines in U.S. student performance, highlighting the lasting academic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Twelfth graders recorded their lowest-ever…
House appropriators approve education spending that echoes Trump: House Republicans advanced a $66.7 billion education spending bill for FY2026, cutting $12 billion from federal programs in line with Trump’s budget request to shrink…
Education Department terminates some grants for deafblind students: The U.S. Education Department has ended four Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part D grants supporting deafblind students in Washington, Oregon, Wisconsin, and New England, citing misalignment…
Educators join lawsuit challenging Trump policy after ‘violent ICE enforcement’: The nation’s two largest teachers unions, the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), along with Oregon’s Guidepost Montessori School…
Judges block Trump policy requiring immigration status verification for Head Start: Federal judges in Rhode Island and Washington have temporarily blocked a Trump policy requiring immigration status verification for programs like Head Start, adult education, and career…
American kids are less likely to reach adulthood than foreign peers: A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that between 2007 and 2023, infants, children, and teenagers in the United States were 1.8 times more likely to die before adulthood than their peers in 18 other wealthy countries, costing an estimated…