Trump shifts Training Division applications to HHS, State Dept.
The Training Division is handing over extra of its applications and grants to different federal businesses, saying a pair of latest agreements Monday that transfer the Trump administration nearer to its aim of shutting down the division.Underneath one interagency settlement, the Well being and Human Providers Division will take over grant applications that ship thousands and thousands of {dollars} to colleges for security and neighborhood engagement efforts. One other requires the State Division to take over a portal that tracks overseas presents to universities.“As we proceed to interrupt up the federal schooling forms and return schooling to the states, our new partnerships with the State Division and HHS signify a sensible step towards higher effectivity, stronger coordination, and significant enchancment,” Training Secretary Linda McMahon mentioned in an announcement.Republican President Donald Trump and McMahon have acknowledged solely Congress has the authority to shut the Training Division absolutely, however each have urged its core capabilities may very well be parceled out to completely different federal businesses.The settlement with HHS strikes a small subset of grants to the well being company with out touching the Training Division’s particular schooling work. McMahon has lengthy urged that particular education schemes must be moved to HHS, too, and as not too long ago as December, she informed advocates that she nonetheless intends to maneuver these applications out of the division.But the difficulty has proved to be politically risky for McMahon, who has been grilled over her plans for particular schooling even by some in her social gathering. The newest agreements make no point out of the division’s Workplace of Particular Training and Rehabilitative Providers, which manages billions of {dollars} in grants and oversees state compliance with the People with Disabilities Training Act.Final yr, the division signed seven related agreements, transferring a sweeping slate of labor to the Division of Labor and the Inside Division, along with the State Division and HHS. These agreements coated billions in federal funding streams that went to applications like Title I, which helps low-income college students.The union representing division staff mentioned the most recent agreements would shift work to businesses with no academic experience.“This isn’t effectivity — Secretary McMahon is creating confusion for colleges and schools, eroding public belief, and harming college students and households,” AFGE Native 252 President Rachel Gittleman mentioned in an announcement.”That is an insult to the tens of thousands and thousands of scholars who depend on the Division to safeguard entry to high quality schooling and to the taxpayers who depend upon federal oversight to forestall waste.”Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state mentioned the agreements would harm college students and households.“These unlawful agreements aren’t simply creating pointless new forms that burdens our already-overworked lecturers and colleges; they’re actively jeopardizing assets and assist that college students and households depend on and are entitled to beneath the legislation,” Murray mentioned.Underneath the brand new agreements, the State Division will take an elevated function in information assortment, reporting and enforcement of Part 117, which requires schools and universities to reveal presents of $250,000 or extra every year.The settlement with HHS will ship six applications to the Administration for Kids and Households, which can take over grant competitions and technical help for these grants.However the way forward for these applications is already unsure. In its 2026 funds request, the Trump administration mentioned it wished to zero out the funds of 5 of the six applications it’s transferring to HHS. And in December, some recipients of the Promise Neighborhoods and Full-Service Group Faculties grants, which pay for tutorial and afterschool enrichment alternatives for college kids, had been notified that their funding wouldn’t proceed in 2026, bringing a lot of their work to a sudden halt. ___Associated Press author Collin Binkley contributed to this report.
The Training Division is handing over extra of its applications and grants to different federal businesses, saying a pair of latest agreements Monday that transfer the Trump administration nearer to its aim of shutting down the division.
Underneath one interagency settlement, the Well being and Human Providers Division will take over grant applications that ship thousands and thousands of {dollars} to colleges for security and neighborhood engagement efforts. One other requires the State Division to take over a portal that tracks overseas presents to universities.
“As we proceed to interrupt up the federal schooling forms and return schooling to the states, our new partnerships with the State Division and HHS signify a sensible step towards higher effectivity, stronger coordination, and significant enchancment,” Training Secretary Linda McMahon mentioned in an announcement.
Republican President Donald Trump and McMahon have acknowledged solely Congress has the authority to shut the Training Division absolutely, however each have urged its core capabilities may very well be parceled out to completely different federal businesses.
The settlement with HHS strikes a small subset of grants to the well being company with out touching the Training Division’s particular schooling work. McMahon has lengthy urged that particular education schemes must be moved to HHS, too, and as not too long ago as December, she informed advocates that she nonetheless intends to maneuver these applications out of the division.
But the difficulty has proved to be politically risky for McMahon, who has been grilled over her plans for particular schooling even by some in her social gathering. The newest agreements make no point out of the division’s Workplace of Particular Training and Rehabilitative Providers, which manages billions of {dollars} in grants and oversees state compliance with the People with Disabilities Training Act.
Final yr, the division signed seven related agreements, transferring a sweeping slate of labor to the Division of Labor and the Inside Division, along with the State Division and HHS. These agreements coated billions in federal funding streams that went to applications like Title I, which helps low-income college students.
The union representing division staff mentioned the most recent agreements would shift work to businesses with no academic experience.
“This isn’t effectivity — Secretary McMahon is creating confusion for colleges and schools, eroding public belief, and harming college students and households,” AFGE Native 252 President Rachel Gittleman mentioned in an announcement.
“That is an insult to the tens of thousands and thousands of scholars who depend on the Division to safeguard entry to high quality schooling and to the taxpayers who depend upon federal oversight to forestall waste.”
Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state mentioned the agreements would harm college students and households.
“These unlawful agreements aren’t simply creating pointless new forms that burdens our already-overworked lecturers and colleges; they’re actively jeopardizing assets and assist that college students and households depend on and are entitled to beneath the legislation,” Murray mentioned.
Underneath the brand new agreements, the State Division will take an elevated function in information assortment, reporting and enforcement of Part 117, which requires schools and universities to reveal presents of $250,000 or extra every year.
The settlement with HHS will ship six applications to the Administration for Kids and Households, which can take over grant competitions and technical help for these grants.
However the way forward for these applications is already unsure. In its 2026 funds request, the Trump administration mentioned it wished to zero out the funds of 5 of the six applications it’s transferring to HHS. And in December, some recipients of the Promise Neighborhoods and Full-Service Group Faculties grants, which pay for tutorial and afterschool enrichment alternatives for college kids, had been notified that their funding wouldn’t proceed in 2026, bringing a lot of their work to a sudden halt.
___
Related Press author Collin Binkley contributed to this report.
