S. 5046 119th Congress Senate

A bill to prohibit the transfer of certain offices and functions of the Department of Education to other Federal agencies, and for other purposes.

Introduced: July 21, 2026 Introduced by: Tim Kaine Democratic · Virginia See on congress.gov

Education Congressional oversightDepartment of EducationEducation programs fundingExecutive agency funding and structureGovernment information and archives

Everywhere this bill has been 5 steps

Introduced

In committee

Reported out

Passed House

Passed Senate

To President

Became law

Aug 4, 2026

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Reported by Senator Cassidy with an amendment. Without written report.

Aug 4, 2026

Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 541.

Jul 30, 2026

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Ordered to be reported with an amendment favorably.

Jul 21, 2026

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Jul 21, 2026

Introduced in Senate

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What's happening now August 4, 2026

Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 541.

Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

This bill prohibits the Department of Education (ED) from transferring specified offices and functions to other federal agencies.

Specifically, the bill prohibits ED from entering into or carrying out interagency agreements related to the following four offices: the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, the Office of Postsecondary Education, the Office of Indian Education, and the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education.

This prohibition applies to the transfer of functions such as administering or operating programs, making grants, carrying out technical assistance, enforcing rights and requirements (e.g., data collection requirements), conducting administrative and oversight functions, and monitoring grantees.

Additionally, ED may not transfer a function or program of one of the four offices to another ED office and then subsequently enter into an interagency agreement related to the function or program.

The bill does not apply to agreements in effect on February 1, 2025, or renewals with substantially similar terms.

ED must, within 14 days of the bill's enactment and on a quarterly basis, provide to Congress (and publish on its website) a report and cost analysis for each interagency agreement entered into on or after February 1, 2025. ED may not use specified FY2026 or FY2027 funds for travel expenses unless ED provides this required information.

(As of July 30, 2026, ED has entered into 14 interagency agreements to transfer functions of ED to other federal agencies, including the ED offices listed in the bill.)

Hearings & markups 1

Business meeting to consider S.5038, to prohibit the transfer of the functions of the Office of Special Education and R…
Open Business Meeting Jul 30, 2026 · 9:45 AM EDT · Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee

Related & companion bills 1

Bill text 2 versions

Introduced in Senate Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML
Reported to Senate Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

Committees of jurisdiction 1

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee
Senate

Lobbying activity 11

Registered lobbyists who named this bill in their disclosure filings. Source: federal Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

ACTE
for ACTE · Virginia · 3rd Quarter 2026 (July 1 - Sep 30)
NATIONAL WOMEN'S LAW CENTER ACTION FUND
for NATIONAL WOMEN'S LAW CENTER ACTION FUND · District of Columbia · 3rd Quarter 2026 (July 1 - Sep 30)
THE ARC OF THE UNITED STATES
for ARC OF THE UNITED STATES · District of Columbia · 3rd Quarter 2026 (July 1 - Sep 30)
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
for AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS · District of Columbia · 3rd Quarter 2026 (July 1 - Sep 30)
NATIONAL PARENTS UNION ACTION FUND INC.
for NATIONAL PARENTS UNION ACTION FUND INC. · Massachusetts · 3rd Quarter 2026 (July 1 - Sep 30)
AFL-CIO
for AFL-CIO · District of Columbia · 3rd Quarter 2026 (July 1 - Sep 30)

Bodies those filers lobbied

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
11 filings
SENATE
11 filings
Education, Dept of
5 filings
Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS)
4 filings
Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
3 filings
Agriculture, Dept of (USDA)
2 filings
Centers For Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)
2 filings
Food & Drug Administration (FDA)
2 filings

A filing lists the bills it worked on and the parts of government it contacted in separate sections, so these are the bodies those filers named anywhere in the filing, not a per-bill breakdown.

See all 11 filings →

Cosponsors 6

Coons, Christopher A.

Delaware · Sep 29, 2026

Van Hollen, Chris

Maryland · Jul 29, 2026

Baldwin, Tammy

Wisconsin · Jul 27, 2026

Hassan, Margaret Wood

New Hampshire · Jul 27, 2026

Collins, Susan M.

Maine · Jul 21, 2026

Murkowski, Lisa

Alaska · Jul 21, 2026

Cite this page click to expand

APA

U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 5046: A bill to prohibit the transfer of certain offices and functions of the Department of Education to other Federal agencies, and for other purposes.. 119th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-5046/

MLA

"S. 5046: A bill to prohibit the transfer of certain offices and functions of the Department of Education to other Federal agencies, and for other purposes.." 119th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-5046/.

Bluebook (legal)

S. 5046, 119th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-5046/.

Markdown link

[S. 5046: A bill to prohibit the transfer of certain offices and functions of the Department of Education to other Federal agencies, and for other purposes.](https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-5046/)