Sen. Mike Rounds, who introduced a Returning Education to Our States Act that would transfer the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Office for Civil Rights to the Department of Justice, said he was excited about the moves.

“I’m very happy with it,” Rounds said about the agency agreements. “This is a step in the right direction.”

Even before the moves were announced, some lawmakers were concerned about what might happen in tribal education under the new administration.

“Children on reservations weren’t getting an appropriate education, and because of federal intervention, now they do to a large extent,” said Rep. Bobby Scott, ranking member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, before the announcement was made. “And you have to keep enforcing it. So you remove the enforcement, you regress back to what you were used to doing.”