U.S. Department of Education (ED) Secretary Linda McMahon presented ED’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 budget to both the Senate Appropriations Committee and the House Committee on Education and Workforce. As part of her testimony, McMahon detailed two primary objectives for K-12 funding: enforcing the Administration’s goals to use their interpretation of federal law [to eliminate the federal role in K-16 education] and emphasizing school choice. During the question-and-answer sessions, Members of both chambers were particularly interested in knowing why the TRIO program -a college access program for youth [including students with disabilities]- had been eliminated and why before-school and aftercare funds that were legally appropriated for FY 2025 had not been spent. Many were also concerned about recent cuts to student mental health care, especially when data shows that youth mental health is in crisis. Other points of contention focused on ED’s ongoing delay in showing how FY 2025 funds will be dispersed. In response to McMahon’s assertion that the Department is “working on it,” several Senators emphasized that FY 2025 is ending in four months and that staff reductions at ED will make the disbursements difficult to manage in a timely manner.