As expected, the House passed a bipartisan appropriations package late Thursday for the current fiscal year that includes mostly status quo funding for key education and workforce development programs of interest to community colleges. The measure now goes to the Senate, which is expected to vote on it this week, just before the current funding extension to keep the federal government running expires on January 30.
H.R. 7148, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, passed by a vote of 341 to 88. With the passage of this final package, the House has passed all 12 appropriations measures for fiscal year 2026. The bill would level-fund several key programs of interest to community colleges, including the maximum Pell grant award ($7,395), Federal TRIO programs ($1.2 billion), Strengthening Community College Training Grants ($65 million), registered apprenticeships ($285 million) and Child Care Access means Parents in School ($75 million). It also includes language that asserts congressional intent for appropriations to curb the Trump administration’s moves to deny or delay grants to certain programs.
Both sides of the aisle applauded the passage of the legislation.
“This is a clean break from the dysfunction of the past. No bloated Christmas omnibuses. No unreviewable backroom bill dumps. And no more leverage of a partisan government shutdown for the rest of the fiscal year,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma), chair of the Appropriations Committee.
Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Virginia), ranking member of House Committee on Education and Workforce, said the House-passed Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor-H) funding bill is “a strong rebuke” of the Trump administration’s efforts to slash funding to the Education Department (ED) and other federal agencies. He said he would have liked to see an increase in the maximum Pell Grant award, but the legislation did not codify Trump’s requested elimination of key programs.
“In particular, I support the provisions to rein in the Trump administration’s attempts to dismantle ED by curbing illegal interagency agreements,” he said in a statement. “However, these provisions are only effective if Congress asserts its Article I authority and holds this Administration accountable for breaking the law.”
