Overview

• The Office of Management and Budget completed its internal review and instructed the Education Department to disburse more than $5 billion in frozen formula grants beginning next week under new guardrails.
• The initial freeze on July 1 paused $6.8 billion in K-12 grants, including funding for English learner instruction, teacher development, after-school and summer programs, and adult education.
• On July 18 the department released $1.3 billion of the withheld funds for after-school and summer learning, alleviating some of the immediate funding shortages for schools and nonprofits.
• Pressure from ten Republican senators’ letters, alongside lawsuits from more than 20 states and the District of Columbia, challenged the legality of the monthlong hold.
• Officials said the freeze followed a review alleging misuse of funds toward a “radical leftwing agenda,” and details of the promised guardrails for released grants remain unspecified.