A spokesman for the Trump administration said “guardrails have been put in place” to ensure the funding won’t violate the president’s executive orders.
Senators grill Education Secretary Linda McMahon over proposed cuts
Education Secretary Linda McMahon testified to Congress over proposed budget cuts.
WASHINGTON – Amid mounting pressure, the Trump administration is releasing more than $1 billion in paused funding for after-school and summer learning programs.
One of Congress’s top budget makers, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said on July 18 that the White House committed to unfreeze the funding. The money, which was tied up for weeks, was already earmarked to support 21st Century Community Learning Centers, which provide tutoring and child care to students in high-poverty and low-performing schools.
A spokesman for the White House Office of Management and Budget confirmed that the Republican administration’s review of the program is over, states will receive the funding and the money cannot be used in violation of the president’s executive orders.
The money is only a fraction, however, of the more than $6 billion in education funding the Trump administration put on hold on June 30, creating financial uncertainty for many districts. Though schools only receive a relatively small amount of money from the federal government each year, the delay hindered administrators’ budgeting ahead of the fall. It also jeopardized programs families rely on, including for adult learners and students whose parents are seasonal workers.
On July 14, two dozen blue states and Washington, D.C., filed a lawsuit to restore all of the paused funding.
Two days later, 10 Senate Republicans expressed frustration over the frozen money. In a rare break with the White House, a group that included Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins of Maine and former Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky sent a letter to Russell Vought, who heads the Office of Management and Budget, saying the decision was “contrary to President Trump’s goal of returning K-12 education to the states.”
“Withholding these funds will harm students, families, and local economies,” they wrote.
Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.
