United States House Committee on Education and the Workforce explained


Type:	standing
Chamber:	house
Congress:	118th
Formed:	March 21, 1867
Chair:	Virginia Foxx
Ranking Member:	Bobby Scott
Rm Party:	D
Rm Since:	January 3, 2023
Chair Party:	R
Chair Since:	January 3, 2023
Seats:	45 members
Majority1:	R
Majority1 Seats:	25
Minority1:	D
Minority1 Seats:	20
Website:	https://edworkforce.house.gov/
Senate Counterpart:	United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions

The Committee on Education and the Workforce is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. There are 45 members of this committee. Since 2023, the chair of the Education and the Workforce committee is Virginia Foxx of North Carolina.

History of the committee

Attempts were made to create a congressional committee on education and labor starting with the early congresses but issues over Congress's constitutional ability to oversee such issues delayed the committee's formation. Finally, on March 21, 1867, the Committee on Education and Labor was founded following the end of the Civil War and during the rapid industrialization of America. On December 19, 1883, the committee was divided into two, the Committee on Education and the Committee on Labor. The committees again merged on January 2, 1947, after the passage of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, becoming the Committee on Education and Labor again.

Name changes

On January 4, 1995, when the Republicans took over the House, the committee was renamed the Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities. It was renamed again as the Committee on Education and the Workforce two years later on January 7, 1997. On January 4, 2007, with the Democrats once again in the majority, the committee's name was changed back to Committee on Education and Labor.^[1] After Republicans recaptured the House majority in the 2010 elections, they returned to the name, Committee on Education and the Workforce, effective with the opening of the 112th Congress in 2011.^[2] After Democrats recaptured the House majority in the 2018 elections, they similarly returned to the previous name, Committee on Education and Labor, effective with the opening of the 116th Congress in 2019. With the passing of the new House Rules associated to the Speaker negotiations in January of 2023, the 118th Congress renamed the committee as the Committee on Education and the Workforce again.^[3]

Jurisdiction

From the Official Committee Webpage:

The Education and Labor Committee's purpose is to ensure that Americans' needs are addressed so that students and workers may move forward in a changing school system and a competitive global economy.

The committee and its five subcommittees oversee education and workforce programs that affect all Americans, from early learning through secondary education, from job training through retirement.

The Education and Labor Committee Democrats' goal is to keep America strong by increasing education opportunities for students, by making it easier to send young adults to college, and by helping workers find job training and retirement security for a better future. The following education issues are under the jurisdiction of the Education and Labor Committee:

Education. The Committee on Education and Labor oversees federal programs and initiatives dealing with education at all levels—from preschool through high school to higher education and continuing education. These include:

Elementary and secondary education initiatives, including the No Child Left Behind Act, school choice for low-income families, special education (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), teacher quality & teacher training, scientifically based reading instruction, and vocational and technical education;
Higher education programs (the Higher Education Act), to support college access for low and middle-income students and help families pay for college;
Early childhood & preschool education programs including Head Start;
School lunch and child nutrition programs;
Financial oversight of the U.S. Department of Education;
Programs and services for the care and treatment of at-risk youth, child abuse prevention, and child adoption;
Educational research and improvement;
Adult education; and
Anti-poverty programs, including the Community Services Block Grant Act and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

Labor. The Committee on Labor also holds jurisdiction over workforce initiatives aimed at strengthening health care, job training, and retirement security for workers. Workforce issues in the jurisdiction of the Education and the Labor Committee include:

Pension and retirement security for U.S. workers;
Access to quality health care for working families and other employee benefits;
Job training, adult education, and workforce development initiatives, including those under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), to help local communities train and retrain workers;
Continuing the successful welfare reforms of 1996;
Protecting the democratic rights of individual union members;
Worker health and safety, including occupational safety and health;
Providing greater choices and flexibility (including "comp time" or family time options) to working women and men;
Equal employment opportunity and civil rights in employment;
Wages and hours of labor, including the Fair Labor Standards Act;
Workers' compensation, and family and medical leave;
All matters dealing with relationships between employers and employees.

Activity

In December 2023, the Committee held a hearing on antisemitism at which three university presidents were invited to speak about their handling of antisemitism on their campuses, and later pressured to resign.^[4] ^[5] Ultimately, within weeks the president of the University of Pennsylvania, M. Elizabeth Magill, resigned as direct consequence of the hearing, and Claudine Gay, president of Harvard University was forced out because of plagiarism accusations amplified in part due to the hearing.

An April 2024 hearing with Columbia University president Minouche Shafik was held later in the morning of the first day of the 2024 Columbia University pro-Palestinian campus occupation. Shafik resigned as President on August 14th of that same year.

Members, 118th Congress

Resolutions electing members: (Chair), (Ranking Member), (R), (D)

Subcommittees

Subcommittee	Chair^[6]	Ranking Member^[7]
Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education	Aaron Bean (R-FL)	Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR)
Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions	Bob Good (R-VA)	Mark Desaulnier (D-CA)
Higher Education and Workforce Investment	Burgess Owens (R-UT)	Frederica Wilson (D-FL)
Workforce Protections	Kevin Kiley (R-CA)	Alma Adams (D-NC)

Historical membership rosters

115th Congress

Sources: (Chair), (Ranking Member), (D), (R), (D), (R)

116th Congress

Sources: (Chair), (Ranking Member), (D), (R), (D), (R), (R), (R)

Subcommittees

^[10]

Subcommittee	Chair	Ranking Member
Civil Rights and Human Services	Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR)	James Comer (R-KY)
Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education	Gregorio Sablan (I-MP)	Rick W. Allen (R-GA)
Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions	Frederica Wilson (D-FL)	Tim Walberg (R-MI)
Higher Education and Workforce Investment	Susan Davis (D-CA)	Lloyd Smucker (R-PA)
Workforce Protections	Alma Adams (D-NC)	Bradley Byrne (R-AL)

117th Congress

Resolutions electing members: (Chair), (Ranking Member), (D), (R), (removing Rep. Greene), (D), (D), (R), (D), (R), (D)

Subcommittees

Subcommittee^[11]	Chair	Ranking Member
Civil Rights and Human Services	Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR)	Russ Fulcher (R-ID)
Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education	Gregorio Sablan (I-MP)	Burgess Owens (R-UT)
Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions	Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA)	Rick W. Allen (R-GA)
Higher Education and Workforce Investment	Frederica Wilson (D-FL)	Greg Murphy (R-NC)
Workforce Protections	Alma Adams (D-NC)	Fred Keller (R-PA)

Chairs

Committee on Education and Labor (1867–1883)

Party	State	Start of service	End of service
Republican	IL	1867	1860
Republican	OH	1869
Republican	TN	1869	1871
Republican	MS	1871	1873
Republican	OH	1873	1875
Democratic	VA	1875	1877
Democratic	VA	1877	1881
Republican	OH	1881	1882
Republican	IL	1882	1883

Committee on Education and Committee on Labor (1883–1947)

Committee on Education					Committee on Labor
Chair	Party	State	Start of service	End of service	Chair	Party	State	Start of service	End of service
	Democratic	SC	1883	1887		Democratic	PA	1883	1885
	Democratic	GA	1887	1889		Democratic	MO	1885	1889
	Republican	MI	1889	1891		Republican	MO	1889	1891
	Democratic	IA	1891	1892		Democratic	MO	1891	1893
	Democratic	PA	1892		Democratic	IL	1893	1895
	Democratic	TN	1892	1895				Republican		PA	1895	1897
	Republican	PA	1895	1903		Republican	NJ	1897	1911
	Republican	NY	1903	1909				Democratic		PA	1911	1913
	Republican	PA	1909	1911				Democratic		MD	1913	1917
	Democratic	SC	1911	1913		Democratic	NY	1917	1919
	Democratic	GA	1913	1917				Republican		MI	1919	1921
	Democratic	FL	1917	1919				Republican		CA	1921	1922
	Republican	OH	1919	1923		Republican	MD	1922	1925
	Republican	MA	1923	1925		Republican	IA	1925	1930
	Republican	NY	1925	1931		Republican	CA	1930	1931
	Democratic	MA	1931	1935		Democratic	MA	1931	1937
	Democratic	MD	1935	1937		Democratic	NJ	1937	1947
	Democratic	IN	1937	1943	bgcolor=EAECF0 colspan=5 rowspan=2
	Democratic	NC	1943	1947

Committee on Education and Labor (1947–1995)

Party	State	Start of service	End of service
Republican	NJ	1947	1949
Democratic	MI	1949	1950
Democratic	NC	1950	1953
Republican	PA	1953	1955
Democratic	NC	1955	1961
Democratic	NY	1961	1967
Democratic	KY	1967	1984
Democratic	CA	1984	1991
Democratic	MI	1991	1995

Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities (1995–1997)

Committee on Education and the Workforce (1997–2007)

Party	State	Start of service	End of service
Republican	PA	1997	2001
Republican	OH	2001	2006
Republican	CA	2006	2007

Committee on Education and Labor (2007–2011)

Committee on Education and the Workforce (2011–2019)

Chair	Party	State	Start of service	End of service
	Republican	MN	2011	2017
	Republican	NC	2017	2019

Committee on Education and Labor (2019–2023)

Committee on Education and the Workforce (2023–present)

External links

Official homepage (Archive)
House Education and the Workforce Committee. Legislation activity and reports, Congress.gov.

Notes and References

https://www.archives.gov/legislative/guide/house/chapter-09.html Chapter 9. Records of the Committees on Education and Labor
https://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/12/24/republicans-labor-to-avoid-labor/ Wall Street Journal: Republicans Labor to Avoid ‘Labor’
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/there-are-new-house-rules-under-gop-leadership-heres-a-short-guide PBS: There are new House rules under GOP leadership. Here’s a short guide
Web site: Borter . Gabriella . Morgan . David . December 8, 2023 . U.S. lawmakers demand Harvard, MIT, Penn remove presidents after antisemitism hearing . Reuters.
Web site: 2024-01-02 . New York Post: Harvard President Claudine Gay's resignation 'just the beginning of reckoning' amid House antisemitism probe: Stefanik . 2024-01-11 . Congresswoman Elise Stefanik . en.
Web site: 2023-01-31 . Education And The Workforce Committee Adopts Rules And Oversight Plan For 118th Congress . 2023-02-01 . Committee on Education & the Workforce . en.
Web site: NEW: 118th Congress Democratic Committee Assignments Education & The Workforce Committee Democrats . 2023-02-01 . democrats-edworkforce.house.gov . en.
Sablan is an Independent, but caucuses with the Democrats.
Sablan is an Independent, but caucuses with the Democrats.
Web site: Members, Subcommittees & Jurisdictions. Committee on Education and Labor, U.S. House of Representatives. January 30, 2019.
Web site: Chairman Scott Statement Announces New Subcommittee and Vice Chairs. Committee on Education and Labor, U.S. House of Representatives. February 8, 2021.