On the heels of the President announcing plans to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and move all student loans to the Small Business Administration (SBA) and “special needs education” to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Republican appropriators indicated last week that they would consider any plan the President might send to the Hill. “I’m broadly supportive of what his aims are there, so I’d be happy to sit down and work with him any way I could,” House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) said. Following suit, both Senate Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee Chair Shelley Moore-Capito (R-WV) and House Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee Chairman Robert B. Aderholt (R-AL) said they would be open to moving ED’s functions if that is what the White House seeks. While the discussion makes it sound possible, and it technically is, the reality is that to move funding from one federal account to another (i.e., ED loan accounts to SBA, ED special education functions to HHS), Congress would also need to approve amendments to the statutory laws under which the funds are authorized. In these cases, it would include amending the Higher Education Act and both Part B and Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA); and any eventual vote would also require the Senate to reach the 60-vote threshold. COPAA opposes any effort to eliminate ED and to move vital education programs and funding, including IDEA to HHS. Tell Congress to reject such proposals.