DeLauro: “President Trump and Russ Vought do not deserve applause for following a law they are still breaking.”

Illegally Withheld Public School Funds Caused Chaos and Confusion, Additional Department of Education Funds Remain Frozen

WASHINGTON — House Appropriations Committee and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Subcommittee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) called for the release of all frozen funds following President Trump and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought’s decision to release more Department of Education funds they were illegally withholding. 

“President Trump and Russ Vought do not deserve applause for following a law they are still breaking. Countless competitive Department of Education grant programs have not yet been awarded, including routine funds that schools are expecting. My Republican colleagues have lowered the bar so low, they are tripping over it, applauding the White House for averting a crisis it caused,” said Ranking Member DeLauro. “The damage of freezing these funds has been done. It does not matter the length of time President Trump and Vought were stealing them. Schools, parents, teachers, and students had to scramble to figure out how they were going to cover the loss of these funds they were owed.”

These resources have been historically provided on July 1 each year to help school districts across the country plan, budget, and spend federal resources for the upcoming school year, but Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought seized control of the Department of Education and is using children and students as pawns in efforts to control every taxpayer dollar, regardless of the law.

“It is time for Republicans to end their assault on public education,” DeLauro continued. “Teachers should not have to worry about getting fired because unelected bureaucrat Russ Vought believes he has free rein over taxpayer dollars. Schools and parents should be able to focus on helping students succeed, not whether or not they can count on the resources they are promised from the federal government.”

DeLauro’s July 2, 2025, statement on the $7 billion originally frozen is here. Her July 18, 2025, statement is here. 

Suspecting the unlawful withholding of Department of Education resources, Ranking Member DeLauro, Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-WA), and Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) sent a letter to Secretary Linda McMahon calling out the Department’s failure to provide public K-12 schools across the nation the timely notice they usually receive on this federal funding.

DeLauro and Murray later sent a letter to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought calling out the Trump administration’s unacceptable failure to submit detailed spend plans for each agency to the Appropriations Committees, as the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act of 2025 requires by law. 

This move is simply the latest step in President Trump’s efforts to eliminate public education. Ranking Member DeLauro and the Litigation and Rapid Response Task Force led 192 House Democrats in filing an amicus brief challenging the Trump Administration’s efforts to close the Department of Education.

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