MEDIA ADVISORY
Media contact: Dorie Turner Nolt, 404-861-1127, dorie.turner@gmail.com
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, U.S Sen. Chris Van Hollen, U.S. Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici and U.S. Rep. Mark Takano will join the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 252 — the employees’ union for the U.S. Department of Education — as well as representatives from AFGE National, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA) for a back-to-school press conference on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, at 9:30 a.m.
The groups will call on the Trump Administration to stop its unlawful dismantling of the U.S. Education Department, which provides critical programs and services for tens of millions of preschool, K-12 and college students who are heading back to school across the country.
They also will commemorate the first anniversary of about 1,000 Education Department workers being fired or forced to retire unlawfully in August 2025, which led to the Education Department’s Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office warning that the Department is too thinly staffed to follow federal laws or safeguard billions of taxpayer dollars from fraud, waste and abuse.
On top of gutting the Department’s staff, Education Secretary Linda McMahon has begun executing 14 interagency agreements that scatter education programs unlawfully across six other federal agencies with no expertise in education or experience serving students and families. McMahon continues to transfer hundreds of Education workers to other agencies and to new buildings, despite multiple complaints and grievances filed by the union and ongoing litigation brought by 21 attorneys general and other federal labor unions, including NEA and AFT.
WHAT: Press conference calling for the halt of the dismantling of U.S. Education Department
WHEN: Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, 9:30 a.m.
WHERE: U.S. Senate Swamp Site
WHO:
- U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee
- U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Member of the Senate Appropriations Committee
- U.S. Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce
- U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, Member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce
- U.S. Rep. Mark Takano, Member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce
- Everett Kelley, AFGE National President
- Rachel Gittleman, AFGE Local 252 President
- Noel Candelaria, NEA Vice President
- Fed Ingram, AFT Treasurer