Key Takeaways
- •The committee advanced H.R. 7894 to overhaul the Truman Scholarship Foundation by firing its board and executive leadership, following allegations of systemic liberal bias in scholar selection.
- •Rep. Onder (R, MO-3) stated that the Truman Scholarship has become a training ground for professional leftists and should be abolished if fundamental reforms are not implemented.
- •Rep. Scott (D, VA-3) challenged Rep. Fine (R, FL-6) over H.R. 7894, labeling the proposed leadership purge a partisan power grab intended to weaponize the foundation.
- •Republicans and Democrats reached a rare bipartisan agreement on the Science of Reading Act, while remaining deeply divided over the potential weaponization of citizenship data in FAFSA.
- •These bills move to the House floor, potentially reshaping federal scholarship governance, national literacy standards, and identity verification protocols for millions of students seeking financial aid.
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Hearing Analysis
Overview
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce met on March 17, 2026, to mark up several pieces of legislation, most notably H.R. 7894, the "Truman Scholarship Clean House Act." Chaired by Rep. Tim Walberg (R, MI-5), the committee also considered bills related to literacy instruction, FAFSA fraud prevention, and student aid verification. The hearing highlighted a sharp partisan divide regarding the governance of federal foundations and immigration-related data collection, while maintaining a rare bipartisan consensus on the "science of reading" for K-12 education.
Policy Proposals
The primary focus of the markup was H.R. 7894, introduced by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and presented by Rep. Randy Fine (R, FL-6). Rep. Fine argued that the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation has strayed from its bipartisan roots to become a "pipeline for radical liberal activists." Citing investigations by The College Fix and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Rep. Fine noted that liberal winners reportedly outnumber conservatives by a 14-to-1 ratio and that recent cohorts lacked representation for students interested in military service or conservative policy priorities. The bill proposes to fire the current board of directors and executive secretary, allowing the President to appoint a new majority board with Senate advice and consent. Ranking Member Robert Scott (D, VA-3) strongly opposed the measure, characterizing it as a "power grab" and "weaponization" of a historically bipartisan program. He expressed concern that the administration intended to do to the Truman Foundation what it had allegedly done to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts—remaking it in the President's image. Rep. Scott offered several amendments, including one to prevent the foundation from being renamed after the sitting President, all of which were defeated or postponed.
Overview
The committee found common ground on H.R. 7890, the "Science of Reading Act of 2026." Introduced by Rep. John Mannion (D, NY-22), Rep. Erin Houchin (R-IN), and Rep. Kevin Kiley (C, CA-3), the bill aims to align federal literacy funding with evidence-based instruction, specifically phonics and phonemic awareness. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R, PA-7) criticized the "three-cueing" approach, which encourages students to guess words based on pictures, as a failure that has stagnated National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores since the 1970s. Rep. Lucy McBath (D, GA-6) supported the bill, noting that literacy is a civil rights issue, particularly for Black and Hispanic students in Georgia. Rep. Kiley cited the "Mississippi miracle" as proof that returning to phonics-based instruction can dramatically improve state rankings.
Next Steps
The markup also addressed "ghost student" fraud through H.R. 7891 and H.R. 7892. Rep. Glenn Thompson (R, PA-15) and Rep. Burgess Owens (R, UT-4) explained that bad actors use stolen identities to extract federal student aid, costing taxpayers millions. Rep. Thompson noted that in 2025, the U.S. Department of Education discovered $90 million in aid distributed to fraudulent actors. H.R. 7892, the "No Aid for Ghost Students Act," would require the Department of Education to implement identity fraud detection systems for all FAFSA applications. While Rep. Scott supported the goal of reducing fraud, he raised concerns that the bills might penalize institutions for single errors rather than patterns of fraud and could burden vulnerable students, such as foster youth, with excessive verification requirements.
Overview
Finally, the committee debated H.R. 7893, the "FAFSA Verification Efficiency Act." Rep. Walberg explained the bill would allow the Department of Education to verify Social Security numbers for all FAFSA contributors, including stepparents and spouses, to streamline tax data retrieval from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). However, Rep. Scott and Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D, OR-1) opposed the bill's requirement to verify citizenship status for all contributors. They argued this would expand federal data collection unnecessarily and expressed fear that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would weaponize this information for immigration enforcement, citing a recent incident where agents allegedly entered Columbia University to detain a student.
Organizations identified in the hearing include: - U.S. Department of Education: Discussed as the primary regulator for FAFSA fraud detection and literacy grants. - Social Security Administration (SSA): Mentioned regarding its role in verifying identities and citizenship for student aid. - Supreme Court of the United States: Referenced regarding rulings on ERISA litigation and the legality of federal agency takeovers. - Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation: The subject of H.R. 7894; criticized by Republicans for bias and defended by Democrats for its bipartisan history. - John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts: Cited by Democrats as a cautionary example of a foundation they claim was "weaponized" and renamed by the administration. - Internal Revenue Service (IRS): Mentioned regarding the direct transfer of tax data to FAFSA applications. - The College Fix: Cited by Rep. Fine for its investigation into the political leanings of Truman Scholars. - U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS): Mentioned by Democrats who fear FAFSA citizenship data will be shared with the agency for enforcement. - American Enterprise Institute (AEI): Cited for a study showing a lack of conservative viewpoints among Truman Scholarship winners. - National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP): Referenced to provide data on declining national literacy rates. - United States Institute of Peace (USIP): Mentioned regarding a reported takeover by the Department of Government Efficiency. - State of Israel: Mentioned in the context of President Truman’s legacy and alleged anti-Israel sentiment among some scholarship winners. - Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA): Mentioned regarding staffing levels and its role in verification. - Columbia University and Harvard University: Referenced regarding campus immigration enforcement and personal educational backgrounds, respectively. - Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPD): Mentioned in relation to the USIP takeover. - Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE): Referenced regarding its alleged role in taking over the USIP. - Hamas: Mentioned by Rep. Fine regarding allegations that a Truman Scholar was a sympathizer of the group.
Transcript
...would remake the scholarship and foundation as the President sees fit. In other words, he would do to the Truman Scholarship Fund what the President has done to the Kennedy Center. He would weaponize a historically bipartisan program that could be used to seek retribution for perceived non-conservative bias in education. And if there is, of course, a non-conservative bias in education, because conservatives don't believe in science. So they would be absent, disproportionately absent from higher education. So I'll be voting no on that and urge my colleagues to do the same. Another bill we'll consider is the Science of Reading Act, a bipartisan bill focused on strengthening literacy instruction. This bill clarifies that federally supported literacy instruction should align with the science of reading, including core components such as phonics, fluency, and vocabulary. I believe it is a reasonable research-based approach to ensure that federal literacy funding supports practices that help students learn. I want to thank the gentleman from New York, Mr. Mannion, and the gentlelady from Indiana, Ms. Houchin, for their leadership on the issue. I would point out that I have heard some concerns about the effect of this legislation on those that are English language learners and the disabled, and I thank the sponsors for making sure that the bill did not adversely affect those communities. The third bill we consider is the No Aid for Ghost Students Act. The bill would require the Department of Education to use an identity fraud detection system to review each FAFSA application. Under this bill, if an applicant is found to have found what the bill details as reasonable suspicion of identity fraud, then they would be subject to additional identity verification. Now, reasonable suspicion is a legal term which is often called articulable reasonable suspicion. It's not a hunch, it's not bigotry, it is articulable, credible suspicion. And when you have that, of course, you should have additional action taken. And I understand the bill would codify the department's existing actions to combat fraud and ensure that financial aid resources go to students in need rather than perpetrators of fraud or fishing schemes. Now, we need to reduce fraud. The broad language, we need to make sure that the language really means reasonable suspicion in the legal sense and not somebody's hunch or racial bias. But if that's the intent of the bill, and I'm sure it is, I hope the committee can make sure that's agreed to and everybody can work together to root out fraud. The other bill, Student Aid Fraud Oversight and Accountability Act of 2026. This bill would reduce a school's flexibility in dispersing aid to students. Under current law, schools are allowed to disperse financial aid if the institution has not found a credible reason to believe that an applicant's FAFSA application is inaccurate prior to complete verification. Instead of allowing schools this discretion, the bill would require the Department of Education to prioritize an institution for program review if that institution has dispersed final aid to a single student whose application was flagged for raising a reasonable suspicion of identity fraud. I understand the bill is attempting to codify the department's current fraud prevention practices. However, just a single error by a college would trigger this additional review, and I'm not sure that's appropriate. We'll offer amendments to prioritize program reviews only if the school that only to schools that display a pattern of dispersing aid to fraudulent applicants rather than just one mistake. Again, I expect the committee to work with stakeholders to ensure that colleges are set up for success in addressing fraud. The FAFSA Verification Efficiency Act deals under present law, Department of Education verifies students' eligibility for federal aid by matching data with the Internal Revenue, Social Security Administration, and the Department of Homeland Security. While the law already allows verification of student and parent information, gaps in the statute mean that some contributors, such as spouses or step-parents, must undergo slower verification processes. This bill would require the Department of Education working with the Social Security Administration to verify both Social Security numbers and citizenship status for anyone whose information is provided in connection with federal student aid. Our supporters argue that this would speed up the FAFSA process. The bill goes much further than necessary by expanding federal collection of citizenship data to individuals who are not even applying for federal aid. This expansion raises serious concerns about unnecessary data collection and the potential misuse of personal information for immigration enforcement. As currently drafted, the bill goes too far, and I would hope that we would not pass it. Another bill, Stop Sexualization of Children Act. This bill prohibits the use of any funds authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to, quote, develop, implement, facilitate, host, or promote programs, activities, literature, or materials that include, quote, sexually oriented material for students under the age of 18 and specifically calls out gender dysphoria and so-called transgenderism. I'm not sure that's a word. But let me preface this conversation by saying that, of course, teachers should consider age appropriateness in their lessons. No one is advocating that schools teach age-inappropriate material. That being said, the bill is drafted so poorly that it would even prohibit the teaching of the Virginia state flag because the Virginia state flag depicts a woman whose breast is exposed. Can't talk about the Virginia state flag or the Obergefell Supreme Court decision. We intend to offer a series of amendments to demonstrate how problematic the legislation is, especially for trans kids, and how this bill attempts to impose federal censorship as to what can be taught on states and classrooms across the country and which authors of material, if one author authors material, it would be okay, and if somebody else authors the same material, maybe not. I oppose the legislation, so I will be opposing that legislation. The ERISA Litigation Reform Act, under the Employee Retirement Security Act, ERISA, workers have the legal right to bring claims in federal court. Thanks to this bedrock right, workers have been able to fight back against being charged excessive fees that steal their retirement savings. Last year, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that plan participants need only allege that a violation of ERISA's rules occurred to pursue their case. This bill would overturn that unanimous Supreme Court decision and impose additional burdens on workers when seeking to enforce their rights in court. In particular, this bill unfairly delays workers' ability to recover losses by placing a hold on discovery until motions to dismiss have been decided. Committee Republicans are advancing legislation that weakens retirement savers' rights to seek justice when harmed, while at the same time, the Trump administration seems poised to encourage retirement plans, retirement plans to include risky assets such as cryptocurrency in 401(k) plans. And this is not in the best interest of workers who already face an economy that isn't working for them. And for those reasons, I'll be urging colleagues to oppose the bill. Mr. Chairman, as I stated before, today is a missed opportunity to actually improve Americans' lives and reduce the cost of living. Americans are in crisis and counting on us to help. We could do that, but we're not doing it today. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
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