Category: Reform

The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced new regulatory actions designed to reduce administrative barriers and lower housing costs as part of the administration’s deregulatory agenda, the agency said Sept. 11. The actions include streamlining federal review processes for housing development on land subject to federal oversight, reducing duplicative environmental and safety review timelines, and expanding flexibility for local housing authorities, according to HUD. The announcements represent HUD’s contribution to a broader administration-wide effort to address the national housing affordability crisis. Median home prices have exceeded $400,000 nationally, and mortgage rates above 6% have made homeownership unattainable for millions

The Trump administration announced a major evidence-based literacy initiative targeting K-12 schools, characterizing America’s reading performance as a national educational emergency, the Department of Education said Sept. 11. The initiative prioritizes phonics-based curricula and the science of reading pedagogical approach, moving away from whole-language and balanced literacy methods that critics argue have contributed to generational learning losses, according to the department. National Assessment of Educational Progress data shows that only one in three fourth-graders reads at grade level, a figure that worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic and has not recovered. Reading proficiency at the fourth-grade level is widely considered the

President Trump signed an executive order on Sept. 8 designed to reduce by weeks the average time it takes veterans to access VA benefits and healthcare, directing administrative changes to the claims process. More than 9 million veterans are enrolled in VA healthcare, and the department’s claims backlog and extended wait times have been a persistent, bipartisan concern for decades. The executive order targets specific bottlenecks in the claims adjudication process, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. The order represents a direct executive intervention into VA operations rather than a legislative approach, allowing faster implementation but lacking the permanence

Federal Student Aid announced the 2027-28 Free Application for Federal Student Aid will be available beginning Oct. 1, restoring the traditional FAFSA calendar after several years of disruptive delays that caused confusion for millions of college applicants. The on-time launch gives students, families, and financial aid offices the certainty they need to plan effectively for the upcoming academic year. The FAFSA is the gateway to all federal financial aid including Pell Grants, subsidized student loans, and work-study programs, according to Federal Student Aid. Approximately 17 million FAFSA forms are submitted annually by students and families seeking help paying for college.

Federal student loan borrowers enrolled in autopay saw their interest rate reduction triple from 0.25% to 1.00% under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, effective July 1. The Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid office announced the change, which represents one of the largest expansions of federal student loan borrower incentives in recent years. Borrowers must be enrolled in automatic payment, where monthly payments are deducted directly from a bank account, to receive the reduced interest rate on their federal student loans, according to Federal Student Aid. Tens of millions of Americans hold federal student loan debt totaling more than

The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of Housing and Urban Development signed a formal interagency agreement to expand homeownership opportunities for tribal families on trust land on Sept. 3. The agreement targets one of the most intractable housing equity challenges in federal policy. HUD Secretary Scott Turner participated in the National Tribal Housing Summit the same day, where he announced inaugural Tribal Leader Awards for housing advancement, according to HUD. Title complexities on trust land, where the federal government holds legal title on behalf of tribal members, have historically made conventional mortgage financing nearly impossible, locking Native American

The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of Housing and Urban Development signed a formal cooperation agreement to expand homeownership opportunities for tribal families on trust lands on Sept. 3, targeting one of the most persistent barriers to wealth-building in Native American communities. The agreement specifically addresses trust lands, where the federal government’s role as trustee has historically complicated mortgage lending, property title and the basic mechanics of home buying that other Americans take for granted. Native Americans face homeownership rates far below the national average. On trust lands — held in trust by the federal government for the

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service announced regulatory action to end the tax-exempt status of private schools that engage in racially discriminatory practices on Sept. 3, reviving a legal doctrine rooted in a landmark Supreme Court ruling. The action expands enforcement of the principle established in the 1983 Bob Jones University v. United States decision, in which the Supreme Court ruled that tax-exempt status could be denied to institutions whose practices violate fundamental public policy, including racial discrimination. That doctrine has not been broadly enforced in recent decades. Tax-exempt status provides significant financial advantages to qualifying organizations, including

Federal Student Aid announced the 2027-28 Free Application for Federal Student Aid will be available to students by Oct. 1, the congressionally mandated opening date, according to a release on Sept. 4. The on-time launch of the FAFSA is critical for college-bound students, particularly those from low-income families who depend on aid determinations to make enrollment decisions, according to FSA. Following a catastrophic delayed rollout of the 2024-25 FAFSA — which was not fully functional until months past its statutory deadline — and further complications in subsequent cycles, meeting the Oct. 1 date represents a return to baseline functionality for

The Department of War obtained an unmodified SOC-1 Type 2 audit opinion for its War Data Platform on Sept. 4, clearing a significant milestone in the Pentagon’s effort to pass a full clean financial audit by 2028. A SOC-1 Type 2 opinion is a third-party audit confirming that an organization’s internal financial controls operate effectively over a sustained period — not just at a single point in time — making it a rigorous test of the Pentagon’s financial management infrastructure. The Department of War has never passed a full departmental financial audit, a distinction that has made it a perennial