ADVOCACY & POLICY UPDATE - September 21, 2026

House on Recess, Senate Stays in Session

Appropriations

The House has adjourned from legislative business for the next seven weeks and is scheduled to reconvene November 9, after the midterm elections. Lawmakers will then have four weeks to address government funding ahead of the December 11 shutdown deadline. The Senate is scheduled to remain in session until October 2. 

Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (ME) said she would like the Senate to take up one or more FY27 appropriations bills this month, including the Military-Construction-VA bill, but said she was unsure what the legislative calendar would allow. While the Military Construction-VA bill would not provide many earmarks for lawmakers to highlight ahead of Election Day, lawmakers often highlight their support for veterans funding on the campaign trail.

Senate Appropriations Vice Chair Senator Patty Murray (WA) said it would be difficult for Senate Republicans to advance appropriations bills this month without a bipartisan agreement on overall funding levels for defense and nondefense programs. Murray said the parties do not yet have an agreement on topline figures and that Republicans need to resume negotiations following the months-long impasse. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY) has not indicated whether Representatives Jared Golden (ME) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA) will face consequences after they twice helped Republicans advance key procedural votes this month. Jeffries said that Democratic leaders would have more to say “when we have more to say,” adding that voters want Democrats focused on taking back control of the House. Some Democrats have suggested removing Gluesenkamp Perez from the Appropriations Committee, while Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (MA) said this week that “team players get to sit on exclusive committees.”

Additionally, Senator Tim Kaine (VA) said that he expects to become the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee next year, as he is the most senior Democratic senator who does not currently chair a committee. Senator Jeff Merkley (OR), who currently serves as the committee’s top Democrat, is in line to become the party’s top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee next year.

House Education and Workforce Committee

On Wednesday, September 16, Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (OR) said she is considering a challenge to Congressman Bobby Scott (VA) for the top Democratic position on the House Education and Workforce Committee. Bonamici, the ranking member of the Committee’s Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee, said she is having conversations about committee leadership. Congresswoman Jahana Hayes (CT) launched a formal bid for the position a couple weeks ago. Scott has said he intends to continue serving as the committee’s top Democrat. 

Department of Labor Proposed Rule Public Comments

On Thursday, September 17, House Education and Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA), House Judiciary Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (MD), and Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (VT) wrote a letter to U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Attorney General Todd Blanche and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel calling on them to open a criminal investigation into reported fake or unverifiable public comments submitted in support of a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) proposed rule on 401(k) investments. Scott and Sanders also wrote letters to DOL Acting Secretary Keith Sondlering and DOL Inspector General Anthony P. D’Esposito calling on them to also investigate. 

The request follows Bloomberg News reporting that nearly 12,000 comments supporting the rule showed signs of being manufactured, including comments submitted in the names of people who said they did not submit them and people who were deceased. The proposed rule would establish a legal safe harbor for 401(k) plans to invest in private equity, cryptocurrency and other alternative assets. 

Click here to access the full letter to DOJ Attorney General Blache and FBI Director Patel.

Click here to access the full letter to DOL Acting Secretary Sonderling.

Click here to access the full letter to DOL Inspector General D’Esposito.

Department of Education Assistant Secretary

On Monday, September 14, Kirsten Baesler, the U.S. Department of Education’s Assistant Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education, began serving as Acting Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) following Kelly Rogers’ resignation. Rogers, who had led OSERS since May, announced her departure effective Friday, September 11. The leadership change comes as the Department of Education continues transferring OSERS staff and responsibilities to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). More than 100 OSERS staff were expected to move to HHS as part of the transition.

Department of Education Staffing Cuts

On Tuesday, September 15, former Education secretaries Arne Duncan, John B. King Jr., and Miguel Cardona and AFGE Local 252 President Rachel Gittleman sent a letter to the acting Inspector General Mark Priebe calling for an investigation into the financial impact of the departure of roughly 2,000 employees who left the department through layoffs, retirements and voluntary separation agreements in 2025. The letter asks the inspector general to examine costs associated with litigation, grievances, firings, reductions in force and reinstating employees. The request follows a June inspector general report that found the staffing cuts eliminated offices that may have been responsible for legally required functions, including education data collection and oversight of student loan servicers. 

Click here to access the letter.​