United States House Committee on Education and the Workforce explained

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]

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)

Chair	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)

Chair	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)

Chair	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)

See also

• Employee Free Choice Act
• List of current United States House of Representatives committees

External links

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

Notes and References

1. https://www.archives.gov/legislative/guide/house/chapter-09.html Chapter 9. Records of the Committees on Education and Labor
2. https://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/12/24/republicans-labor-to-avoid-labor/ Wall Street Journal: Republicans Labor to Avoid ‘Labor’
3. 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
4. Web site: Borter . Gabriella . Morgan . David . December 8, 2023 . U.S. lawmakers demand Harvard, MIT, Penn remove presidents after antisemitism hearing . Reuters.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. Web site: NEW: 118th Congress Democratic Committee Assignments Education & The Workforce Committee Democrats . 2023-02-01 . democrats-edworkforce.house.gov . en.
8. Sablan is an Independent, but caucuses with the Democrats.
9. Sablan is an Independent, but caucuses with the Democrats.
10. Web site: Members, Subcommittees & Jurisdictions. Committee on Education and Labor, U.S. House of Representatives. January 30, 2019.
11. Web site: Chairman Scott Statement Announces New Subcommittee and Vice Chairs. Committee on Education and Labor, U.S. House of Representatives. February 8, 2021.