Quick note on federal funding

First, while we should be attentive to the "House GOP eyes 27% cut to Title I" headline, what do we know about how the federal budget process works? There are many steps! And don't forget where the Senate (also with a GOP majority) went on this one: 

In July, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a bipartisan bill that would fund the Education Department at $79 billion in FY 26, a slight increase to current spending. 

As I posted then:

 Money has impact on real people.  

Keep telling your stories to those who make decisions. It makes a difference.

Over the weekend, there was a comment from Secretary McMahon which doesn't seem to have gotten a lot of attention which I thought was interesting in the above vein:

 Education Secretary Linda McMahon on Sunday pushed back on what she called a “misconception” of federal funding losses if her department is wound down at the federal level the way the Trump administration wants.

“I think the misconception is that federal funding will go away if the Department of Education goes back more to the states. Title I funding is appropriated by Congress, that’s going to continue, and that deals with most of the issue that you’re talking about. IDEA [the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act], which is, you know, the funds for our kids with special needs,” McMahon told NewsNation’s Chris Stirewalt on “The Hill Sunday.”

“Right,” Stirewalt said.

“That’s going to not go away. That’s going to continue flowing. In fact, that should be the least concern of our states. But what’s going to happen is those states that are being innovative and creative are going to continue to be that way,” the Education secretary added.

 Don't take this as a dismissal from me on the important work of U.S. DoE--it has important work which we need!--but a lot of the attention has focused on "oh no, they are taking away the money." This would seem to be a commitment (is that possible from this administration?) that on the big accounts, that isn't the intent.

Also don't miss the "funding is appropriated by Congress" comment there said publicly. If the administration goes another round on trying to hold up funding appropriated by Congress, I'd expect her public comment here to come up.