Senator Marsha Blackburn is taking a sledgehammer to one of the most powerful political machines in American education. On Tuesday, she introduced legislation that would bar the National Education Association (NEA) from lobbying Congress—striking at the core of the union’s political clout in Washington.

The bill, titled the Terminating Education Association Congressional Handouts Act (or TEACH Act), would also force the NEA to certify annually that it has abstained from lobbying activity. Any failure to comply would result in the union losing its prized status as a congressionally chartered nonprofit—an honor it’s held since 1906.

Blackburn, who previously introduced legislation to revoke the NEA’s congressional charter altogether, said the union has abandoned its founding mission of supporting teachers and students. Instead, she argues, it has become a political action arm for far-left causes. “The NEA has become nothing more than a radical-left activist group,” Blackburn told Breitbart News, “and it has no business using its status as a congressionally chartered entity to push woke gender ideology, antisemitism, and propaganda on America’s students.”

The move comes amid a wave of conservative backlash against what many parents and lawmakers see as the ideological capture of K-12 education. The NEA, under current president Becky Pringle, has partnered with GLSEN to promote gender ideology in classrooms and has adopted critical race theory-inspired frameworks. It has even encouraged schools to hide students’ gender identity from their own parents.

Corey DeAngelis, a leading voice for education reform, unearthed recent NEA internal documents showing the union voted to cut ties with the Anti-Defamation League and to label Trump’s policies as “fascism” in official materials. Such overt politicization has only fueled calls to end the union’s privileged access to lawmakers.

The NEA’s record during the COVID-19 pandemic also came under fire. It was one of the driving forces behind keeping schools closed during 2020 and 2021—pressuring the CDC to adopt its recommendations, despite growing concerns about academic and emotional harm to students.

In the 2024 election cycle, 98% of the NEA’s political donations went to Democrats, according to Open Secrets. That figure, paired with its aggressive lobbying, paints a picture of a union more focused on shaping politics than shaping young minds.

Blackburn’s office emphasized that the NEA’s federal privileges shouldn’t be used as a weapon to influence policy in defiance of parents, voters, and constitutional limits. Her bill would demand transparency and accountability, requiring the union to keep detailed records for potential audits.

If passed, the TEACH Act would mark the most serious effort yet to decouple taxpayer-funded privileges from overt partisan activism in education. It wouldn’t just neutralize the NEA’s grip on Congress—it would send a message to every politically active nonprofit enjoying government perks: stay in your lane, or lose it.