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The Committee on Education and Workforce is a
standing committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...
of the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
. There are 45 members of this committee. Since 2025, the chair of the Education and Workforce committee is Republican
Tim Walberg Timothy Lee Walberg (born April 12, 1951) is an American politician serving as a United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from Michigan since 2011, representing the state's Michigan's 5th congressional district, 5th congression ...
of
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.


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 A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
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 The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (also known as the Congressional Reorganization Act, ch. 753, , enacted August 2, 1946) was the most comprehensive reorganization of the United States Congress in history to that date. Background The ...
, 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. 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 The 112th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2011, until January 3, 2013. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January 3, 2011, and ended on January 3, 2013, 17 ...
in 2011. 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 The 116th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate, Senate and the United States House of Representati ...
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.


Jurisdiction


Education policy

* Elementary and secondary education initiatives including the
Every Student Succeeds Act The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is a US law passed in December 2015 that governs the United States K–12 public education policy. The law replaced its predecessor, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), and modified but did not eliminate ...
, school choice for low-income families, special education (the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a piece of American legislation that ensures students with a disability are provided with a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) that is tailored to their individual needs. IDEA w ...
), and teacher quality and education * Postsecondary education programs, including the Higher Education Act, which supports college access for low- and middle-income students and helps families pay for college; * Workforce development and skills development activities and adult education, and workforce development initiatives, including those under the
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) is a United States public law that replaced the previous Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) as the primary federal workforce development legislation to bring about increased coordinatio ...
(WIOA), which help local communities reskill and upskill workers; * Early childhood care and preschool education programs, including Head Start and the Child Care and Development Block Grant; * Career and technical education programs; * School lunch and child nutrition programs; * Programs for the care and treatment of at-risk youth, child abuse prevention, and adoption; * Programs for older Americans; * Educational research and improvement; * Work requirements under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program and other federal programs; * Adolescent development programs, including but not limited to those providing for the care and treatment of certain at-risk youth, including the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act and the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act and * Anti-poverty programs, including the Community Services Block Grant Act and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).


Workforce policy

* Pensions, health care, and other employer-sponsored benefits covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA); * Application of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to collective bargaining and union representation; * Occupational safety and health and mine safety; * Unpaid, job-protected leave as outlined in the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), as well as "comp time" or family friendly work schedules; * Equal employment opportunity and civil rights in employment, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); * Various temporary worker programs under the Immigration and Nationality Act; * Wage and hour requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA); * Prevailing wage requirements for federal contractors under the Davis-Bacon Act and the Service Contract Act; * Workers' compensation for federal employees, energy employees, longshore and harbor employees, and individuals affected by black lung disease; and * Matters dealing with employer and employee relations, as well as union transparency (the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act).


Members, 119th Congress

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


Subcommittees


Chairs

;Committee on Education and Labor (1867–1883) ;Committee on Education and Committee on Labor (1883–1947) ;Committee on Education and Labor (1947–1995) ;Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities (1995–1997) ;Committee on Education and the Workforce (1997–2007) ;Committee on Education and Labor (2007–2011) ;Committee on Education and the Workforce (2011–2019) ;Committee on Education and Labor (2019–2023) ;Committee on Education and the Workforce (2023–2025) ;Committee on Education and Workforce (2025–present)


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 :


117th Congress

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


118th Congress

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


See also

*
Employee Free Choice Act The Employee Free Choice Act is the name for several legislative bills on US labor law (, , , , , , , , .) which have been proposed and sometimes introduced into one or both chambers of the U.S. Congress. The bill's purpose, as taken from the 20 ...
*
List of current United States House of Representatives committees There are two main types of congressional committees in the United States House of Representatives, standing committees and select committees. Committee chairs are selected by whichever party is in the majority, and the minority party selects ...


References


External links


Official homepageArchive

House Education and the Workforce Committee
Legislation activity and reports, Congress.gov. {{United States congressional committees Education and the Workforce Education in the United States 1867 establishments in the United States Organizations established in 1867 Labor in the United States