II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5384 

To abolish the Department of Education, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 21, 2024 

Mr. ROUNDS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To abolish the Department of Education, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Returning Education 

5 to Our States Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ABOLISHMENT OF DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. 

7 Effective on the date that is 180 days after the date 

8 of enactment of this Act, the Department of Education 

9 is abolished, and, with the exception of the programs 

10 transferred under section 3, any program for which the 

11 Secretary of Education or the Department of Education 


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1 has administrative responsibility as provided by law or by 

2 delegation of authority pursuant to law is repealed, includ3 ing each program under the following: 

4 (1) The Department of Education Organization 

5 Act (20 U.S.C. 3401 et seq.). 

6 (2) The General Education Provisions Act (20 

7 U.S.C. 1221 et seq.). 

8 SEC. 3. TRANSFER OF CERTAIN DEPARTMENT OF EDU9 CATION PROGRAMS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

11 date of the enactment of this Act— 

12 (1) all functions, programs, and authorities of 

13 the Secretary of Education under the Individuals 

14 with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1460 et 

15 seq.) shall be transferred to the Department of 

16 Health and Human Services; 

17 (2) each authority and program of the Office of 

18 Indian Education of the Department of Education 

19 shall be transferred to the Department of the Inte20 rior; 

21 (3) each Impact Aid program under title VIII 

22 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

23 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.) shall be transferred 

24 to the Department of Health and Human Services; 


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1 (4) the Federal Pell Grant program under title 

2 IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

3 1070a) shall be transferred to the Department of 

4 the Treasury; 

5 (5) the Federal Family Education Loan Pro6 gram under part B of such title IV shall be trans7 ferred to the Department of the Treasury; 

8 (6) the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan 

9 Program under part D of such title IV shall be 

10 transferred to the Department of the Treasury; 

11 (7) the Federal Perkins Loans Program under 

12 part E of such title IV shall be transferred to the 

13 Department of the Treasury; 

14 (8) the activities described in part F, G, or H 

15 of title IV that are carried out by the Department 

16 of Education shall be transferred so as to be carried 

17 out by the Department of Treasury; 

18 (9) the Health Education Assistance Loan pro19 gram under title VII of the Public Health Service 

20 Act (42 U.S.C. 292 et seq.) shall be transferred to 

21 the Department of Treasury; and 

22 (10) the programs under the Education 

23 Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9501 et 

24 seq.) and the Educational Technical Assistance Act 


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1 of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) shall be trans2 ferred to the Department of the Treasury. 

3 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

5 such sums as may be necessary. 

6 SEC. 4. BLOCK GRANTS TO STATES. 

7 (a) ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION

8 STATE BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas10 ury shall carry out a program under which the Sec11 retary makes allocations to States to support ele12 mentary and secondary education, including career 

13 and technical education. 

14 (2) ALLOCATIONS TO STATES.—The allocations 

15 made by the Secretary of Treasury to each State 

16 under this subsection for a fiscal year shall be in an 

17 amount that bears the same relationship to the 

18 amount appropriated to carry out this subsection for 

19 the fiscal year as the number of students in kinder20 garten through grade 12 who were enrolled in pub21 lic, private, and home schools in the State for the 

22 previous fiscal year bears to the number of such stu23 dents in all States for the previous fiscal year. 

24 (3) USE OF FUNDS.—A State that receives an 

25 allocation under this subsection shall use such fundVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Dec 05, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5384.IS S5384

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1 ing for any purpose relating to early childhood, ele2 mentary, or secondary education. 

3 (b) POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION STATE BLOCK

4 GRANT PROGRAM.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas6 ury shall carry out a program under which the Sec7 retary makes allocations to States to support post8 secondary education. 

9 (2) ALLOCATIONS TO STATES.—The allocations 

10 made by the Secretary of Treasury to each State 

11 under this subsection for a fiscal year shall be in an 

12 amount that bears the same relationship to the 

13 amount appropriated to carry out this subsection for 

14 the fiscal year as the number of students who were 

15 enrolled in postsecondary educational institutions in 

16 the State for the previous fiscal year bears to the 

17 number of such students in all States for the pre18 vious fiscal year. 

19 (c) BLOCK GRANT CONDITIONS.—As a condition of 

20 receiving a block grant under this subsection, a State shall 

21 provide the Secretary of Treasury with an assurance that 

22 the State will carry out each of the following: 

23 (1) Submitting student data to the Secretary of 

24 Treasury, annually, as requested by the Secretary of 


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1 Treasury and as necessary for executing the pro2 gram under this section. 

3 (2) Completing of annual audits that conform 

4 to generally accepted accounting principles, auditing 

5 procedures, and safeguarding of funds that conform 

6 to chapter 75 of title 31, United States Code (com7 monly known as the ‘‘Single Audit Act of 1984’’) 

8 and submitting the results of such audits to the Sec9 retary of Treasury. 

10 (3) Complying with all applicable Federal civil 

11 rights laws, including those described in section 5. 

12 (d) MISUSED OR MISAPPROPRIATED FUNDS.—If the 

13 Secretary of Treasury finds that any funds under this sec14 tion have been misused or misappropriated by the State, 

15 the Secretary of the Treasury— 

16 (1) may require repayment of the misused 

17 funds and withhold Federal funds under this section 

18 for the next fiscal year; or 

19 (2) may reach a voluntary resolution agreement 

20 with that State. 

21 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

22 (1) the term ‘‘State’’ means each of the 50 

23 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 

24 of Puerto Rico, and each of the outlying areas; and 


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1 (2) the term ‘‘outlying area’’ means American 

2 Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

3 Islands, Guam, and the United States Virgin Is4 lands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Fed5 erated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of 

6 Palau. 

7 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

9 such sums as may be necessary. 

10 SEC. 5. CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS. 

11 The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Jus12 tice shall be responsible for receiving complaints and oth13 erwise enforcing and carrying out Federal civil rights laws 

14 that are applicable to the grant programs under section 

15 4 and the programs described in paragraphs (4) through 

16 (7) of section 3, including— 

17 (1) section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 

18 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794); 

19 (2) title IX of the Education Amendments of 

20 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.); or 

21 (3) title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 

22 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.). 

Æ 


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