In an effort to fulfill the administration’s wish for a single, large, filibuster-proof bill, the Senate passed a revised budget framework that provides more tax breaks to billionaires by taking from everyone else—especially students, educators, and working families.
Despite GOP claims to the contrary, the numbers show that a big share of those spending cuts—as much as $880 billion—will come from Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). School meals, student loans, and food aid are also on the chopping block. GOP leaders would like the final bill to include a $100 billion voucher program as well.
“Over the long term, it is counterproductive to slash investments in the students who are America’s future leaders and workforce,” NEA said in a letter to senators. “Yet that is precisely what this budget resolution contemplates.”
Next week, the House is expected to act on the budget resolution. Then comes the really difficult part: getting GOP majorities in both chambers to agree on the nitty gritty details of spending cuts—not just a rough framework. They have a long way to go.
The House also plans to take up two other bills opposed by NEA.
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE) Act would disenfranchise more than 21 million Americans who do not have a passport, birth certificate, or ready access to naturalization papers. Many married women and others who change their names, lower-income Americans, residents of rural areas, and people with disabilities are among those most likely to be affected.
The No Rogue Rulings Act (NORRA) threatens our democracy and the rule of law itself. The bill would sharply limit the ability of federal district courts to issue nationwide injunctions that halt, at least temporarily, unlawful and unconstitutional actions taken by the federal government while allowing litigation to proceed.
Tell Congress what you think!
Marc Egan
Government Relations Director
National Education Association
The first step toward more tax cuts for billionaires, paid for by everyone else, it opens the door to a menu of devastating cuts for the public schools that educate 90% of Americans.
Tell your senators and representative to urge Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to exempt educators of military-connected students from the March 27 executive order on collective bargaining.
CHEER: Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) gave a historic 25-hour speech on the Senate floor—thoughtful pushback against the Trump administration’s attacks on democracy and elimination of federal programs and services.
CHEER: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) launched the Save Our Schools campaign to fight the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education and highlight the consequences.
CHEER: Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT) reintroduced the Paraprofessional and Education Support Staff Bill of Rights, which calls for better wages, working conditions, and respect for education support professionals.
CHEER: Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) led a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon decrying the illegal shuttering of seven civil rights offices, firing of nearly half the Department of Education’s staff, and efforts to dismantle the department without congressional authorization.
CHEER: Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) introduced the Savings Opportunity and Affordable Repayment (SOAR) Act (S. 1220) to create a new income-driven repayment plan that protects borrowers from unaffordable payments, runaway balances due to rapidly accruing interest, and clarifies the path to debt relief after at least a decade of payments.
CHEER: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Jared Golden (D-ME) introduced the Protect America’s Workforce Act to restore the collective bargaining rights of unionized federal employees, including those in Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools represented by the Federal Education Association, an NEA affiliate.
