The U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Deadline Act Thursday. (Photo by Richard Stephens via iStock / Getty Images Plus)
While much of the discussion in Congress has centered on the transition of powers and changing roles in leadership heading into 2025, Iowa’s delegation took actions this week on issues like federal student aid and allegations of federal disaster aid discrimination.
The U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Deadline Act Thursday, a measure that would require the U.S. Department of Education to ensure that the form for receiving federal student aid, FAFSA, is available by Oct. 1 each year. The legislation was passed 381-1 by the House earlier in November, and now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk for final approval.
The measure was introduced after there were problems with the 2024-25 FAFSA rollout, where many users experienced glitches, errors and processing delays while applying for higher education aid. While the education department typically opens the FAFSA form Oct. 1 each year, federal officials announced the 2025-2026 FAFSA form would open using a staggered approach, starting with a testing period in October before opening to all applicants, to prevent issues that occurred the previous year from repeating.
On Thursday, the department announced the 2025-2026 FAFSA form was officially open to all applicants, beating its planned Dec. 1 full launch by 10 days.
But members of Congress say that more steps need to be taken to ensure the FAFSA form is open and available for families in a timely manner. The bill passed in the U.S. Senate Thursday would officially change require FAFSA to be rolled out by Oct. 1 each year — moving it up from the current legal deadline of Jan. 1.
U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican who cosponsored the legislation in the Senate, said the bill will provide certainty to families applying for federal student aid and loans that were put in a difficult position because of last year’s delays.
“After Biden’s FAFSA fumble left students out in the cold, I’m working to hold bureaucrats accountable to a firm deadline,” Ernst said in a statement. “As the FAFSA Deadline Act clears another hurdle, I hope that no one has to worry about bureaucratic blunders derailing their academic ambitions. Congress has done our part, and now President Biden must sign this into law immediately. Planning for college is stressful enough – Americans deserve certainty that they will be able to access this federal aid tool by Oct. 1.”
Iowa senators call for action, answers on alleged FEMA discrimination
Ernst also joined a letter this week calling for accountability through another federal aid provider — the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency — in the wake of reports that a low-level FEMA supervisor told her team to avoid canvassing houses that showed support for President-elect Donald Trump in Florida following Hurricane Milton.
On Tuesday, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told lawmakers on the House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee and the House Oversight and Accountability Committee that the agency employee in question was fired, and that there was not evidence to suggest any larger orders or movement to deny emergency disaster relief to Trump supporters. However, Criswell said the agency was conducting an internal investigation to determine if other employees were involved, in addition to saying she would request an inspector general investigation.
Ernst signed on to a letter Tuesday alongside other 18 other senators asking Criswell to provide more information on the incident — including communications between the supervisor and her Survivor Assistance Team — as well as information and documents about houses in all declared disaster zones that could not be reached, and the reason why they were marked “not able to access property.”
While Criswell said the Florida incident was isolated, the senators said in the letter that the former FEMA employee has made claims that avoiding homes on the basis of apparent political beliefs is a wider practice in FEMA, “even happening in Western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene brought devastating rains and floods the likes of which we have never seen.”
“Given the shocking and reprehensible nature of these allegations, our constituents deserve immediate answers and maximum transparency,” the senators wrote. “As Members of Congress, we are committed to holding those responsible accountable and making sure that rank weaponization against the American public is never tolerated.”
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley also wrote a letter to Criswell earlier in November asking for more information on the incident and what steps the agency is taking to prevent political discrimination in distributing disaster aid in the future.
“Politicization of who receives FEMA assistance is unacceptable, especially as the people affected by these disasters attempt to put their lives back together. The American people deserve a more robust and detailed explanation of this problem and FEMA’s plans to fix it,” Grassley wrote.