S 5046

Introduced

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

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

Introduced Jul 21, 2026

Latest action (Jul 21, 2026) Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Referred to

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee

Issues

Education

Summary

Prohibits the Secretary of Education from entering into new agreements with other Federal agencies relating to functions of four specific Department of Education offices: Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, Postsecondary Education, Indian Education, and Elementary and Secondary Education
Prevents transfer of program administration, grant awards, technical assistance, data collection, enforcement, and monitoring functions from the covered offices to other Federal agencies
Prohibits internal transfer of functions from covered offices to other Department of Education offices if the Department then enters into an agreement with another Federal agency for those functions
Exempts existing agreements and arrangements between the Department of Education and other Federal agencies that were in effect on February 1, 2025
Permits renewal of existing arrangements if the renewal contains the same or substantially similar terms to the original agreement

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Sponsor (1)

Sen. Kaine, Tim [D-VA] (D-VA)

2 cosponsors

Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME] (R-ME)
Sen. Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK] (R-AK)

Actions (2)

Jul 21, 2026 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. · senate
Jul 21, 2026 Introduced in Senate

Similar bills (6)

Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.

Text versions (1)

Introduced in Senate · Jul 21, 2026

Only one text version is on file, so there’s no earlier version to compare against yet.

Committee action

What happened to this bill in committee — the meetings where it was considered and every recorded vote taken on it.

Meetings where this bill was on the agenda

Business meeting to consider S.5038, to prohibit the transfer of the functions of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, S.5046, to prohibit the transfer of certain offices and functions of the Department of Education to other Federal agencies, S.2511, to establish a postsecondary student data system, S.3010, to amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to improve provisions relating to dyslexia, S.3589, to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide students with disabilities and their families with access to critical information needed to select the right college and succeed once enrolled, S.4097, to establish that a State-based education loan program is excluded from certain requirements relating to a preferred lender arrangement, S.4689, to strengthen literacy outcomes for all students, to amend the comprehensive literacy State development grant program, and to ensure Federal accountability and investment in research, teacher preparation, and evidence-based instruction aligned with the science of reading, S.3333, to modify the eligibility requirements and account contribution maximum for pension-linked emergency savings accounts, S.4965, to amend the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 to establish a Railroad Retirement Board Administrative Account, S.3097, to provide additional protections with respect to health information, and the nominations of Erica Schwartz, of Florida, to be Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Sean Kaufman, of Georgia, to be Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, Department of Health and Human Services, and Keith Sonderling, of Florida, to be Secretary of Labor.Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions CommitteeJul 30, 2026Business meeting

Full text

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

July 21, 2026

Mr. Kaine (for himself, Ms. Collins, and Ms. Murkowski) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

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

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. PROHIBITION ON TRANSFERRING CERTAIN OFFICES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES.

(a) In General.—

(1) Prohibition.—

(A) In general.—Notwithstanding section 430 of the General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1231), sections 203(c)(3), 415, and 419 of the Department of Education Organization Act (20 U.S.C. 3413(c)(3), 3475, 3479), section 1535 of title 31, United States Code (commonly known as the “Economy Act”), and section 1501 of title 31, United States Code, and subject to subsection (b), the Secretary of Education shall not enter into any agreement, or implement any agreement existing on the date of enactment of this Act, with another Federal agency, or procure services from, contract or carry out an agreement with, obtain any goods or services from, transfer activities or appropriations to, use the research, equipment, services, or facilities of, jointly carry out projects of common interest with, or enter into a similar arrangement with, another Federal agency, relating to the functions (including administering or operating programs, making grant awards, carrying out technical assistance, enforcing rights and requirements (such as data collection and data sharing requirements), conducting administrative and oversight functions, and monitoring grantees, related to any program, project, or activity for which funds are appropriated to the Department of Education) of any of the Department of Education’s offices described in paragraph (2), including functions of the Secretary of Education related to programs administered by such offices.

(B) Transferring functions and programs within the department.—The Secretary of Education shall not transfer a function or program from an office described in paragraph (2) to another office of the Department of Education not described in paragraph (2), and subsequently enter into an agreement with another Federal agency relating to such function or program.

(2) Offices.—The offices of the Department of Education described in this paragraph are—

(A) the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services authorized under section 207 of the Department of Education Organization Act (20 U.S.C. 3417);

(B) the Office of Postsecondary Education authorized under section 205 of the Department of Education Organization Act (20 U.S.C. 3415);

(C) the Office of Indian Education authorized under section 215 of the Department of Education Organization Act (20 U.S.C. 3423c); and

(D) the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education authorized under section 204 of the Department of Education Organization Act (20 U.S.C. 3414).

(b) Exception.—This section shall not apply to—

(1) any procurement, contract, agreement (including an agreement for obtaining goods or services), transfer, or similar arrangement, between the Department of Education and another Federal agency that was in effect on February 1, 2025; and

(2) the renewal of such a procurement, contract, agreement, transfer, or similar arrangement described in this subsection if the renewal contains only the same, or substantially similar, terms. <all>

Comments

Loading comments…