BURLINGTON, Vt., July 18 — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), today welcomed the announcement that Vermont would receive $6.5 million in funding for afterschool programs through the 21st Century Learning Centers program, as a result of his demands that the Trump administration release illegally and unconstitutionally withheld federal funds for public education. Newly-released funding supports nearly 100 afterschool and summer programs in Vermont that serve 11,000 students.
“Today I spoke with Secretary McMahon about the release of $1.3 billion for summer and afterschool programs, including $6.5 million for Vermont, and urged her to release the remaining funding for critical education programs that is currently being illegally withheld by the Department of Education and the Office of Management and Budget,” Sanders said.
On June 30, 2025, just one day before states expected to receive the funds, the Education Department sent a three-line email to states informing them that $6.88 billion in education funding would be illegally withheld. This decision received strong opposition from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress — including a letter led by Sanders and Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) alongside 32 Democratic senators, and a letter from Senator Shelley Moore-Capito (R-W.Va.) and 9 Republican senators demanding the release of the funds.
As a result of these efforts, today the department announced the release of $1.3 billion for programs across the country, which will support more than 10,000 summer and afterschool programs for 1.4 million students.
“Clearly, that is not enough. The Trump administration is still illegally withholding nearly $5.5 billion in funding for the Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants, Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants, Adult Education, English Language Acquisition, and Migrant Education State Grants,” Sanders continued. “Congress clearly and unambiguously passed this education funding and the president signed it into law. The Trump administration has no right to withhold or impound it. Secretary McMahon and Director Vought must immediately release the remaining funds to states, school districts and students.”
