Secretary McMahon Testifies on President Trump's Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Request

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Chair Capito, Ranking Member Baldwin, distinguished members of this Subcommittee, thank you for having me today.

I also want to thank my team at the Department of Education and those across the federal government for their months of hard work to produce the President's Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Request.

In November of 2024, the American people elected President Trump with a clear mandate: to sunset a 46-year-old, $3 trillion, failed education bureaucracy in Washington, DC, and return authority to where it belongs-to parents, teachers, and local leaders. Amid record-low test scores and record-high numbers of students buried in debt, Americans want results.

Today, I can confidently attest that we are delivering on the vision of educational renewal that, for decades, many promised but none delivered.

Over the past year, I've traveled to over 30 states. Seeing first-hand the successes and challenges our education systems face has reinforced my conviction that empowering local leaders and targeting federal dollars toward evidence-based programs are the force multipliers driving our educational renaissance.

To that end, my Department has carefully scrutinized every dollar of taxpayer investment to ensure that it supports clear pathways to success for our students and families. We've cut unproductive program funding, and redirected those resources to revitalize literacy, invigorate workforce development, and support our most vulnerable students. We have conducted an honest assessment of our operational efficacy, shrunk our bloated bureaucracy, and to date, have secured ten partnerships with federal agencies well-equipped to co-administer Department of Education programs.

At the state level, we've stopped burdening local leaders with one-size-fits-all mandates and are now empowering them to design solutions that best support their students. For example, we awarded Iowa the first-ever Returning Education to the States Waiver, which combines four funding streams into one and frees millions of dollars in compliance costs. This allows Iowa to devote more resources to proven interventions-like those that led to their double-digit reading gains. And we continue to work closely with other states to help them realize their potential for innovation.

We are also expanding affordable, high-quality education options and restoring parents to their rightful role as the primary decision-makers in their child's education. Thanks to President Trump and Republicans in Congress, the Education Freedom Tax Credit gives parents access to critical resources like scholarships, tutoring, and specialized services for students with disabilities, whether their child attends public or private school.

Across every level of education, the Trump Administration is restoring safety, fairness, and equal opportunity for our students. In K-12 and higher education alike, we are ensuring no student is discriminated against on the basis of their skin color, disability, or sex, and that every learner is protected by clear, consistent standards under the law. In this Administration, we have secured seven historic deals with universities to right the wrongs of their pervasive civil rights violations.

Under President Trump's leadership, we have returned integrity to the broken federal student aid system for the 43 million Americans holding an astounding $1.7 trillion in federal student loan debt. Our simplified Free Application for Federal Student Aid form launched on the earliest timeline in program history, leading to a record 11 million submissions to date. We introduced a new earnings indicator, so students no longer take on significant debt without clear, reliable information. And thanks to our strengthened security measures, we have prevented over $1 billion in attempted federal student aid fraud.

We are also hard at work implementing the historic provisions of the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, which simplifies federal student loan repayment; launches a brand-new Workforce Pell program; and puts downward pressure on tuition to make education more affordable for students nationwide.

And today, we're putting forward a request for $75.7 billion in new discretionary budget authority-with every allocation structured to accelerate these reforms.

Today's request maintains full funding for the Title I-A Grants to Local Education Agencies program, devoting over $18.4 billion to serve children from low-income families.

It includes $33 billion for the Pell Grant program, which supports low-income students, representing an increase of $10.5 billion dollars over the Fiscal Year 2026 appropriation.

It provides $2 billion in new Make Education Great Again grants, a historic investment to improve numeracy and literacy and remediate our decades-long academic proficiency crisis.

And for our students with disabilities and their families, the Trump Administration requests $16 billion dollars for IDEA programs, which is an increase of more than half a billion dollars above the Fiscal Year 2026 appropriation.

We've been clear: shifting authority back to the states will not come at the expense of essential federal support and programs, many of which predate the Department itself. Today's budget request proves that when the Trump Administration makes promises, we keep them.

With your partnership, we are well-positioned to unleash momentous opportunity for every child to realize their God-given potential. Thank you for your commitment, and I look forward to taking your questions.