Hickenlooper, HELP Committee Democrats Call for Secretary McMahon to Testify Before Committee

Senators demand Secretary of Education to answer for efforts to dismantle Department of Education

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper, along with all the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Democratic senators, called on Chairman Bill Cassidy to immediately hold an oversight hearing with Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon about the illegal efforts to dismantle the Department.

"At a time when U.S. students rank 34th in the world in math and academic outcomes have sharply declined since the early 2010s, it is outrageous that the Trump administration is trying to dismantle the only agency dedicated to improving outcomes for all students," Hickenlooper and his colleagues wrote. "Burying education programs in other federal agencies will not help students or support schools and colleges."

The senators' letter follows McMahon's latest effort to undermine the Department of Education by transferring core elementary, secondary and postsecondary education programs out of the Education Department without congressional authority.

Hickenlooper voted against McMahon's nomination and has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration's relentless attacks on the Department of Education. He also fought to get the admin to release $7 billion in federal funding for K-12 schools and adult literacy programs across America, including $70 million for Colorado schools which was released.

Full text of letter HERE and below:

Dear Chair Cassidy,

On November 18, 2025, the Department of Education (Department) announced it had entered into six interagency agreements (IAAs) to transfer over 50 elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education programs covering over $30 billion in annual funding to federal agencies that do not have the expertise or capacity to administer them. This transfer is an alarming and illegal step toward fulfilling President Trump's threat to eliminate the entire Department.

At a time when U.S. students rank 34th in the world in math and academic outcomes have sharply declined since the early 2010s, it is outrageous that the Trump administration is trying to dismantle the only agency dedicated to improving outcomes for all students. Burying education programs in other federal agencies will not help students or support schools and colleges. Rather, it will jeopardize services for tens of millions of students, educators, and families across the country.

These dangerous changes will create chaos and uncertainty for school districts, colleges, and universities who will now have to navigate multiple federal agencies just to get funds they rely on to serve students. Already, this administration has cancelled billions of dollars in education programs, illegally withheld nearly $7 billion in formula funds, and proposed to fully eliminate many of the programs included in the latest transfer. In our minds, that is unacceptable.

This is not just our view: Margaret Spellings, the Education Secretary under President G.W. Bush said: "Moving programs from one department to another does not actually eliminate the federal bureaucracy, and it may make the system harder for students, teachers and families to navigate and get the support they need." Chester Finn, President Emeritus of the Fordham Institute and a former Department official under President Reagan, called the interagency agreements "confusing to everybody" and "pointless and disruptive for no good reason."

Congress unambiguously vested responsibility for administering education programs with the Department under numerous laws, and Congress explicitly appropriated funding to the Department to carry them out. If Congress wanted the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Interior, or State to administer education programs, Congress would have expressly said so. This illegal action is part of the administration's broader effort to dismantle the Department. Congress established the Department and only Congress has the power to eliminate it, which the Trump administration has acknowledged. That is why Secretary McMahon is using the IAAs to circumvent Congress.

In addition to ignoring the law, Secretary McMahon has broken a commitment she made to this Committee. In her confirmation hearing, you asked Secretary McMahon about her plans to dismantle the Department, and she assured you that she would "make sure that we are presenting a plan that I think our

Senators could get on board with and our Congress could get on board with that would have a better functioning Department of Education. But certainly, it does require Congressional action."

However, the Secretary has not upheld that commitment and has unilaterally moved to illegally transfer these programs. As members of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee we must hold an oversight hearing on this massive and unprecedented transfer of responsibility and federal funding to other agencies.

Therefore, we are calling on you to immediately hold a bipartisan oversight hearing to bring Secretary McMahon to testify before the Committee about these interagency agreements.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

###