Perkins Authority Moved to Labor Department; Congress Wants to Make It Permanent

For more than a century, career and technical education in the United States has lived at the U.S. Department of Education. On May 21, 2026, that quietly changed. According to disclosures surfaced in federal court filings earlier this month, the Department of Education signed an Interagency Agreement transferring administration of the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act — Perkins V — to the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration. The transfer did not wait for Congress.

On July 15, the House Education and Workforce Committee took the next step. Members marked up H.R. 9607, the “Less Bureaucracy, Better Workforce Development Act,” along with a package of companion bills that would codify that administrative transfer into statute. If the legislation passes, it would permanently relocate the federal home of every secondary and postsecondary CTE program in the country — the most significant restructuring of CTE’s federal oversight since the original Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act was enacted in 1984.

Another full committee markup is scheduled for July 21. One day after the markup, Keith Sonderling, President Trump’s nominee for Deputy Secretary of Labor, appeared before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee for his confirmation hearing, where Democratic senators pressed him on whether DOL has the operational capacity to absorb a portfolio as large and politically sensitive as Perkins V.

The Transfer That Already Happened

The story behind H.R. 9607 is not primarily a legislative story. It is an administrative one that is now being ratified by Congress.

ED’s Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) has been the locus of Perkins authority since the law’s first iteration under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act of 1984. Under Perkins V, enacted in 2018 with broad bipartisan support, OCTAE distributes roughly $1.4 billion annually in basic state grants to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and outlying areas, plus territories and tribal organizations. Those grants fund CTE programming in nearly every secondary school district and postsecondary institution in the country.

In May 2026, ED signed an Interagency Agreement with DOL making the transfer effective administratively. It was not announced through normal channels and surfaced only because ED disclosed it in court filings — likely tied to litigation over the broader Trump restructuring of the Education Department. ACTE flagged the disclosure in a CTE Policy Watch post, and Advance CTE subsequently confirmed that ED had also proposed eliminating postsecondary CTE support in its FY27 budget request, deepening concerns about the federal posture toward Perkins programming.

The Interagency Agreement is the legal mechanism by which one federal agency transfers program administration to another without Congress. Permitted under the Economy Act (31 U.S.C. § 1535), it cannot substitute for statute when the underlying law assigns a specific agency the responsibility. That is why H.R. 9607 matters: without statutory change, the agreement sits on shaky legal ground and could be reversed by a future administration or struck down in court.

What H.R. 9607 Would Do

The “Less Bureaucracy, Better Workforce Development Act” does not merely ratify the Interagency Agreement. It restructures the federal workforce development architecture more broadly. According to the bill text and committee summary, the package would:

Transfer Perkins V from ED’s OCTAE to DOL’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) on a permanent statutory basis.
Transfer the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) — also currently administered by OCTAE — to ETA alongside Perkins V.
Consolidate redundant administrative functions across the workforce system.
Require DOL to publish a single, unified state plan that combines Perkins V, AEFLA, and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Title I and II requirements.

The consolidation has practical consequences for state CTE directors and Perkins recipients. Today, states file separate state plans for Perkins V (through ED) and WIOA (through DOL). Under H.R. 9607, those plans would merge — a simplification proponents say will reduce paperwork but critics warn could subordinate secondary CTE to the WIOA adult workforce system, which has a different theory of who the customer is.

The Sonderling Hearing

The day after the markup, Sonderling — currently Acting Deputy Secretary of Labor and Wage and Hour Division Administrator — sat before the Senate HELP Committee. Sonderling served on the National Labor Relations Board before moving to Wage and Hour during the first Trump administration.

Democrats pressed Sonderling on whether ETA has the staffing and infrastructure to absorb Perkins V. The questions cut to a real concern: ETA’s existing portfolio already includes WIOA Title I (workforce development), Job Corps, YouthBuild, Registered Apprenticeship, and the Workforce Pell Grant program that launched July 1. Adding Perkins V would expand ETA’s footprint by roughly $1.4 billion in annual formula grants and several hundred thousand programs.

Sonderling defended DOL’s capacity and reiterated the administration’s argument that workforce education belongs in the workforce department. He sidestepped questions about specific implementation timelines and whether Perkins programs serving K-12 students would retain their secondary-education character under DOL. He is expected to be confirmed.

Implications for State CTE Leaders and Instructors

For state CTE directors and Perkins V recipients, the operative question is no longer whether Perkins will move to DOL — it already has, administratively. The questions now are:

Implementation timeline. ETA will need to publish interim final rules, transition state plan templates, and reissue program guidance. That work typically takes 12 to 18 months.
State plan harmonization. Merged Perkins-WIOA-AEFLA plans will change the negotiation dynamics between state education agencies, state workforce boards, and governors’ offices.
Reporting and accountability. Perkins V’s Core of Performance Indicators — including the nontraditional participation and completion measures — are different from WIOA’s primary indicators. Whether DOL preserves them or folds them into WIOA metrics is unresolved.
Secondary CTE’s seat at the table. Secondary CTE serves the vast majority of CTE concentrators. Under WIOA, the system is built around adults and dislocated workers. The risk is that secondary CTE becomes an afterthought in a workforce system designed for a different customer.

For instructors, the immediate practical impact is limited: Perkins V funds will continue to flow under existing state plans until DOL issues new guidance. CTE programs with strong industry connections — through pre-apprenticeships, industry advisory committees, work-based learning, and employer-recognized credentials — will likely benefit from the move. Programs embedded in K-12 systems but lacking employer-facing infrastructure will need to build that capacity quickly.

What Comes Next

The House is expected to hold another full committee markup on the companion bills on July 21. If the package clears the House, it heads to the Senate, where HELP Committee leadership will determine whether the chamber takes up its own version or moves to conference. DOL is already staffing up: ETA has posted multiple openings tied to “Perkins transition” work, and Sonderling’s confirmation would unlock broader hiring authority.

The next six months are the window to make sure secondary CTE’s voice is heard — in the Senate markup, in rulemaking, and in state-level negotiations. The federal home of CTE is changing. What stays the same — the mission of preparing young people and adults for careers — depends on whether the field shows up now to defend it.

Originally reported by ACTE and Advance CTE. This article was adapted and expanded for the CTE News lane with analysis for state CTE directors, Perkins V recipients, and instructors.

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