The White House has announced it will release $5.5bn in frozen education funds to US states, following a backlash from Republican lawmakers. The funds, which were congressionally approved, had been abruptly withheld by the Trump administration a day before their scheduled release on 1 July for the 2025-26 school year.
The money covers educator training, arts and music education, and English as a second language support for children from immigrant families. Madi Biedermann, a deputy assistant secretary for communications at the White House, confirmed the release, stating that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will begin disbursing the funds to states next week.
The initial withholding had sparked outrage from educators and pushback from several Republican senators, including former Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell. In a letter to the White House, the senators argued that the funds support programs with longstanding bipartisan backing, such as after-school and summer programmes, and that withholding them denied states the opportunity to pursue local initiatives for students and families.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, had called the freeze “another illegal usurpation of the authority of the Congress”. The decision to release the funds was welcomed by Republican congressman Don Bacon of Nebraska, who wrote on X: “All frozen education funding for the upcoming school year have been released.” The School Superintendents Association also praised the move, with executive director David Schuler expressing gratitude for the advocacy that led to the release.
