OMB Is Sitting on $2 Billion in Education Grants Congress Already Approved. The Clock Is Running Out.

On February 3, 2026, Congress passed the fiscal year 2026 appropriations bill funding the U.S. Department of Education. The bill provided specific dollar amounts for specific programs — competitive grants for teacher training, community schools, magnet schools, migrant education, Native Hawaiian education, gifted education, and dozens of other initiatives that Congress has funded continuously for years, in some cases decades.

Three months later, most of that money has not moved.

As of May 5, 2026 — seven months into the fiscal year that ends September 30 — the Office of Management and Budget has not released funding for 35 competitive education grant programs totaling more than $2 billion. For 13 of those programs, OMB has apportioned only token amounts — fractions of a percent of the appropriated total — that are sufficient to keep administrative lights on but far too small to fund any new grants.

The numbers are striking in their precision. American History and Civics: $200,000 released of $23 million appropriated. Native Hawaiian Education: $350,000 of $46 million. Comprehensive Centers: $500,000 of $50 million. These are not rounding errors. They are deliberate decisions to withhold funding that Congress directed the executive branch to spend.

The question is not whether this is happening. It is whether the money will expire before it is released — and whether the programs it funds will survive the gap.

How Federal Funding Is Supposed to Work

The federal appropriations process has a specific sequence. Congress appropriates funds. The president signs the bill. OMB then "apportions" the money — releasing it into agency accounts so that departments can obligate it through grants, contracts, and other spending instruments. Apportionment is a ministerial function, not a discretionary one. The law that governs it — the Antideficiency Act and the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 — establishes that the executive branch must spend what Congress appropriates, unless the president formally requests a rescission and Congress approves it.

The Impoundment Control Act was passed in direct response to President Nixon's practice of impounding — refusing to spend — funds that Congress had appropriated for programs he opposed. The Act created a framework: if the president wants to cancel spending, he must submit a rescission request to Congress. Congress then has 45 legislative days to approve it. If Congress does not act, the funds must be released.

The Trump administration has not submitted rescission requests for the withheld education programs. It has not formally invoked any provision of the Impoundment Control Act. It has simply not apportioned the money — a form of de facto impoundment that achieves the same result through administrative inaction rather than formal legal process.

The Government Accountability Office has already ruled, in the context of similar actions during FY2025, that withholding congressionally appropriated funds without a rescission request violates federal law. Two federal courts reached the same conclusion and ordered OMB to restore its apportionment database after the office removed it from public view in March 2025, claiming that transparency about spending decisions could have a "chilling effect" on executive branch deliberations.

The 35 Programs and What They Do

The withheld programs span the full range of federal education investment. They are not obscure line items. Many fund organizations and school districts that have built multi-year service models around predictable federal support.

Teacher quality and training. The Teacher Quality Partnership program ($220 million) funds clinical teacher preparation residencies — programs where aspiring teachers train in actual classrooms under the supervision of experienced mentors. Supporting Effective Educator Development, or SEED ($13.1 million), funds research-validated approaches to improving teaching quality. The Augustus F. Hawkins Centers ($20.2 million) support teacher preparation at historically Black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions.

Community schools. Full-Service Community Schools ($150 million) integrates academic instruction with health services, family support, and community engagement at high-poverty schools. The model — which coordinates wraparound services at the school building level — has demonstrated measurable effects on attendance, academic performance, and family stability in rigorous evaluations. Nineteen grants were terminated in FY2025. New grants cannot be awarded until OMB releases FY2026 funds.

Student access and equity. GEAR UP ($138.1 million in FY2025) provides college preparation services to low-income middle and high school students. TRIO ($40 million in terminated grants) supports first-generation college students through advising, tutoring, and financial aid counseling. The Magnet Schools Assistance Program ($139 million) funds schools designed to reduce racial isolation through specialized academic themes. All have been disrupted by the combination of FY2025 terminations and FY2026 withholding.

Minority-serving institutions. Approximately $900 million in higher education funding flows to historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, tribal colleges, and other minority-serving institutions. The administration has argued that some of these programs "violate the Constitution" — an assertion that has not been tested in court but that Education Secretary Linda McMahon has cited as grounds for refusing to distribute the funds.

Specialized education. Programs serving some of the smallest and most vulnerable populations are affected: State Deafblind Projects ($3 million), the Braille Training Program ($2.76 million), the Interpreter Training Program ($6.7 million), and Alaska Native Education ($45 million). These programs serve populations that have no alternative federal funding source and limited access to state or private support.

The September Cliff

Federal appropriations typically carry a one-year obligation period for competitive grant programs. Money appropriated in FY2026 must be obligated — committed to specific grants through signed award documents — by September 30, 2026. After that date, unobligated funds lapse and return to the Treasury.

The Department of Education's competitive grant process is not fast. A typical cycle — from publishing the Notice Inviting Applications through peer review, selection, and award — takes four to six months. For the 35 withheld programs, the clock started February 3 when Congress appropriated the funds. Seven months have already elapsed. If OMB releases funds in June, the department would have approximately three months to complete the entire grant cycle. If funds are released in July, two months. In August, it becomes physically impossible to complete peer review before the fiscal year ends.

This is the mechanism by which de facto impoundment becomes permanent. The administration does not need to formally cancel the programs. It simply needs to delay apportionment long enough that the department cannot obligate the funds before they expire. The money returns to the Treasury. The programs go unfunded. And the administration achieves through administrative delay what Congress explicitly refused to authorize through the legislative process.

Approximately $1.4 billion of the withheld funds face this expiration risk. Some programs have multi-year funding authority that extends the obligation window, but the majority of competitive grants operate on annual appropriations that lapse at year-end.

Who Is Affected Right Now

The damage is not hypothetical. Organizations that received awards in previous cycles are already experiencing disruptions, and prospective grantees who expected new competitions in spring 2026 have no timeline for when — or whether — applications will open.

Active grantees expecting continuation funding. Six organizations in the first year of Arts Education grants are waiting for September 2026 payments that cannot be processed without apportioned funds. The Portland Community College migrant education program has warned of staff layoffs and halted student recruitment because its continuation funding has not arrived.

Schools and districts planning around anticipated grants. The Hawaii Partners in Development Foundation, which operates early childhood programs at 38 sites across the state, could scale back operations if Native Hawaiian Education funding is not released. Similar stories exist at tribal colleges awaiting Alaska Native Education funds, at urban school districts awaiting Magnet Schools funding, and at community colleges awaiting TRIO and GEAR UP support.

Prospective applicants in limbo. Organizations that planned to apply for new grants in FY2026 have no solicitation to respond to. Without a published Notice Inviting Applications, they cannot begin the application process — and with each passing week, the probability of a completed competition before September 30 decreases.

The Legal and Constitutional Landscape

The legal framework is clearer than the political outcome.

The Impoundment Control Act requires the president to spend appropriated funds unless he obtains congressional approval for rescission. The administration has not requested rescission for any of the 35 withheld programs. The GAO has found similar withholding actions illegal. Two courts have ordered restoration of spending transparency.

But legal clarity does not produce immediate relief. Litigation takes months. Court orders can be appealed. Injunctions require standing, jurisdiction, and judicial willingness to intervene in what the executive branch characterizes as an internal budget management decision.

The constitutional argument the administration has advanced — that some minority-serving institution programs violate equal protection — creates additional uncertainty. No court has ruled on whether race-conscious higher education funding programs are unconstitutional under the framework established in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023). If the administration forces a legal test, the programs could be tied up in litigation for years regardless of whether OMB eventually releases FY2026 funds.

Congress itself is the most direct remedy. It could pass legislation directing immediate apportionment of the withheld funds. It could impose penalties for non-compliance with the Impoundment Control Act. It could condition other executive branch priorities on the release of education funding. Whether it has the political will to do so — on a bipartisan basis, with veto-proof majorities — is the question that will determine whether these programs survive.

What Organizations Should Do Now

Document the impact. Organizations that are losing or at risk of losing funding should create detailed records of how the withholding affects their operations — staff reductions, program curtailments, students unserved, services discontinued. These records serve multiple purposes: they support legal challenges, inform congressional advocacy, and build the evidentiary record for future appropriations arguments.

Engage congressional delegations. Individual members of Congress — particularly appropriators who voted to fund these programs — have both the authority and the institutional incentive to press OMB for release. Contact the relevant House and Senate appropriations subcommittee staff. Be specific about which program, which dollar amount, and which communities are affected.

Diversify funding immediately. Organizations that depend on a single federal program for more than 30% of their operating budget face existential risk in any impoundment scenario. State education agencies, community foundations, and corporate philanthropy should be approached now — not after federal funds expire in September.

Monitor the apportionment database. OMB's apportionment data, restored under court order, is publicly accessible and shows in real time which accounts have been funded and which remain frozen. Organizations should track their specific programs and be prepared to move quickly if funds are released late in the fiscal year.

Prepare applications in advance. If OMB releases funds and the Department of Education announces competitions on a compressed timeline, organizations that have already drafted applications, assembled partnerships, and collected supporting data will be able to respond within days rather than weeks. The difference between a 30-day and a 60-day application window may determine whether a program is funded.

The $2 billion that Congress appropriated for these 35 programs represents a legislative judgment that teacher training, community schools, student access, and specialized education serve the national interest. Whether that judgment is honored — or allowed to expire on a bureaucratic clock — will be decided in the next 145 days.

Granted tracks Department of Education competitive grant opportunities across all program offices. For the latest on which programs have opened solicitations, visit grants.gov and filter by the Department of Education.