Trump administration will return more than $5B in public school funding it withheld

The Trump administration says it will return the remaining more than $5 billion in funding that it previously withheld from public schools for nearly a month, alleviating school administrators' anxiety about federal funding hurdles for the 2025-2026 school year.

The federal government froze the money on June 30 to allow for the White House's Office of Management and Budget to review nearly $7 billion allocated for schools.

Madi Biedermann, a deputy assistant secretary for communications at the White House, told USA TODAY in an email July 25 the agency's review of the money complete and the agency will begin disbursing funds to states next week.

“OMB has completed its review of Title I-C, Title II-A, Title III-A, and Title IV-A ESEA funds and Title II WIOA funds, and has directed the Department to release all formula funds," Biedermann wrote.

The Trump administration announced that it released more than $1 billion of the paused funding to schools for after-school and summer learning programs on July 18. The release of the funds completes the review, she said.

The move comes after a period of anxiety among school leaders and mounting pressure from those concerned about what the funding freeze would mean for the fall.

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Nebraska, who championed the release of the paused funding, posted on X, telling his constituents about "exciting news to announce!"

“All frozen education funding for the upcoming school year have been released, following my letter to the OMB!” he said.