On July 1, 2025, Ohio Senator Jon Husted voted against an amendment to strike the federal school voucher tax credit from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and the amendment failed on a 50-50 tie, so his vote was one it could not lose. He then voted for the bill, which from 2027 gives a federal tax credit of up to $1,700 per donor for private school scholarships with no national cap. Ohio has opted in to the program.
Two weeks later Husted voted against keeping the $1.1 billion Congress had approved for public radio and television, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting shut down; Ohio stations had received $13,341,101 from it in 2024. Husted also voted to confirm Education Secretary Linda McMahon, whose department cut its staff by nearly half, from 4,133 employees to 2,183 and closed its civil rights office in Cleveland.
Jon Husted's Votes on School Vouchers, Public Broadcasting and the Education Department
- Husted Cast a Deciding Vote to Keep an Uncapped Federal School Voucher Tax Credit in July 2025. On July 1, 2025, Jon Husted voted no on Senator Mazie Hirono's amendment to eliminate a program of qualified elementary and secondary education scholarships for private schools. It failed 50-50, so one more vote would have removed the program. Husted then voted yes on the final bill, which passed 50-50 with the Vice President's vote. Starting with the 2027 tax year, the credit pays back donors dollar for dollar, up to $1,700 per donor, and the final law discards the budgetary safeguard included in the House version, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Families earning up to 300 percent of their area's median income qualify, which EdTrust says is about 90% of all families in the U.S.
- Husted Voted Against Restoring $1.1 Billion for Public Radio and Television in July 2025. On July 16, 2025, Husted voted no on an amendment to strike the rescissions of funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting from the rescissions bill; it failed 47-52. The next day he voted for the bill, which passed 51-48. The law took back $1.1 billion in funding for public broadcasting through September 2027, and the corporation that sent that money to more than 1,500 local stations shut down.
- Husted Voted Against Protecting Children's Educational Programs and Rural Stations in July 2025. On July 16, 2025, Husted voted no on Senator Ed Markey's motion to remove any rescissions that would reduce access to children’s educational programming through public television stations, and the same day against motions to spare stations that serve rural areas and Tribal communities (roll call 395) and stations that relay emergency alerts (roll call 396). Earlier that year the Education Department had already canceled the 2020-25 Ready to Learn grant that paid for PBS Kids shows such as "Molly of Denali."
- Husted Voted Twice Against Safeguards for School Lunch and Breakfast. On February 21, 2025, Husted voted no on allowing Senator Chris Van Hollen's amendment to create a point of order against legislation that would cut funding from the school lunch or school breakfast programs, a procedural barrier to such cuts, and it failed 49-51. On April 22, 2026, he again voted no on a similar school-meals safeguard (roll call 93), which failed 48-50. The 2025 law's food-aid changes reach school meals because free meals depend on how many children receive SNAP, and more than 1 million American children have lost access to SNAP, Stateline reported.
- Husted Voted to Confirm Linda McMahon, Who Cut the Education Department Nearly in Half. On March 3, 2025, Husted voted to confirm Linda McMahon as Secretary of Education; on August 1, 2025 he voted to confirm Under Secretary Nicholas Kent, and on October 7, 2025 he voted to confirm civil rights chief Kimberly Richey and K-12 chief Kirsten Baesler (roll call 547). In March 2025 the department cut its workforce by nearly half, from 4,133 employees to 2,183, and the Supreme Court later said the layoffs may proceed. Its Office for Civil Rights dismissed more than 6,000 complaints without investigation; before 2025, about 12,000 complaints were pending, more than half about students with disabilities. By June 2026 the department was transferring two of its main responsibilities, special education oversight and civil rights enforcement, to other agencies, and it had canceled grants for some 120 TRIO programs that help low-income and first-generation students.
- Husted Voted to Confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Whose Department Closed Half of Head Start's Regional Offices. On February 13, 2025, Husted voted to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services, in a 52-48 vote. In April 2025 five out of 10 regional Head Start offices were abruptly closed and their staff let go, among them the Region 5 office in Chicago: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio In August 2026 his department proposes to rescind and replace the Head Start Program Performance Standards; that proposal is not final.
What the Cuts to Schools and Public Broadcasting Jon Husted Voted For Mean for Ohio
- Public broadcasting. Ohio public stations received $13,341,101 from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in 2024, according to CPB data compiled by Senate Appropriations Democrats. In Athens, WOUB received about $1.5 million, or 30 percent of its budget, through CPB and identified nearly $1 million in budget cuts, including some layoffs after the money ended.
- Civil rights in schools. The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights’ locations in Boston, Chicago, Cleveland and four other cities were shut, and ProPublica reported that the country's dozen regional civil rights offices became five, so Ohio families' complaints about discrimination in schools now go to an office in another state.
- Head Start oversight. The Chicago regional Head Start office that oversaw Ohio's programs was among those closed; the closed offices oversaw nearly 318,000, or 44 percent of, funded slots nationwide, according to the Center for American Progress.
- Private school vouchers. Ohio is among the states that opted in to the federal voucher credit, listed with Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio and others by January 2026 (Chalkbeat), so Ohio donors can claim the uncapped federal credit from 2027.
Frequently Asked Questions About Jon Husted on Education
What is Jon Husted's record on education under Trump?
Jon Husted cast one of the votes that kept the federal private-school voucher credit in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, where the amendment to remove it failed 50-50, and then voted for the law. He voted to end federal money for public radio and television, which had sent Ohio stations $13,341,101 in 2024, and to confirm Linda McMahon and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose departments cut Education Department staff nearly in half and closed the regional offices that oversaw Ohio's school civil rights cases and Head Start programs.
Did Jon Husted vote to cut funding for PBS and NPR?
Yes. Jon Husted voted on July 16, 2025 against the amendment to keep the $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and on July 17 for the rescissions bill that took it back. The motion he voted against on July 16 would have spared stations licensed to or primarily serve rural areas or Tribal communities.
Does Jon Husted support federal school vouchers?
Jon Husted voted on July 1, 2025 against removing the federal voucher tax credit from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and because the amendment failed 50-50, his vote kept the credit in the law. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy notes that the final law discards the budgetary safeguard included in the House version, so the cost to the Treasury has no fixed limit.
What happened to the Education Department under the officials Jon Husted confirmed?
Jon Husted voted to confirm Linda McMahon, and under her the department cut its workforce from 4,133 employees to 2,183 and by 2026 was transferring two of its main responsibilities to other agencies. About 12,000 complaints were pending before 2025, more than half about students with disabilities, and the department then dismissed thousands without investigation.
Last updated: 2026-10-25