The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee on Thursday voted along party lines, 12-11, for Keith Sonderling to serve as labor secretary. The nomination now heads to the full Senate for a final confirmation vote. Also, the committee overwhelmingly passed the College Transparency Act.
“It is clear Mr. Sonderling is qualified,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), who chairs the committee. “As secretary, I’m confident that he will protect workers, help businesses create more jobs and help workers navigate AI-driven changes in the workforce.”
At the same session of the HELP Committee, lawmakers on the panel approved a series of education bills, including the College Transparency Act, which passed with strong bipartisan support, 21-1. The measure — a legislative priority for the American Association of Community Colleges and other higher education advocates — would require the Education Department (ED) to create a student-level postsecondary education data system within four years of enactment, producing better information about educational outcomes while also reducing reporting burdens on colleges.
The committee also approved legislation that would prohibit the transfer of certain functions from ED to other agencies through inter-agency agreements (IAAs), namely the offices of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, Postsecondary Education, Indian Education and Elementary and Secondary Education. Democrats failed to pass an amendment to prevent the transfer of ED’s Office of Civil Rights.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration sent a letter on Thursday to congressional leaders highlighting its various IAAs, blasting the Education Department for inefficiencies and red tape and touting how the agreements have improved programs. One program called out in the letter — signed by the leaders of seven agencies, including Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Acting Labor Secretary Sonderling — was the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program, which provides low-income, Pell Grant-eligible student parents with reliable and affordable child care. It said the number of grant applications nearly doubled to about 300 in the last competition, crediting ED’s partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services on the program to reach more organizations and encourage them to apply.
The letter also said IAAs have resulted in improvements to other programs, such as career, technical and adult education programs, which include DOL as a partnering agency.
