Manu Raju is a senior congressional correspondent at CNN, covering Capitol Hill and campaign politics. Raju is a veteran reporter in Washington, having previously served as a top Capitol Hill correspondent at Politico for seven years. Prior to his time at Politico, Raju reported for The Hill newspaper, Congressional Quarterly and Inside Washington Publishers. He has long been a frequent guest on political talk shows on TV and radio. 

Twitter/X: @mkraju

Bluesky: @mkraju.bsky.social

Nicholas Kent was sworn in as the 15th Under Secretary of Education on August 4, 2025, following his nomination by President Donald J. Trump and confirmation by the U.S. Senate. A first-generation college graduate with more than two decades of experience in education policy, Kent serves as the nation’s top federal official for higher education. In this role, he oversees postsecondary education, career and technical education, adult education, and federal student aid programs, including the $1.6 trillion federal loan portfolio and the Pell Grant program.

Kent is responsible for advancing the Administration’s higher education agenda, including efforts to reduce college costs, simplify student loan repayment, expand workforce training opportunities, and strengthen accountability to ensure postsecondary programs deliver value for students and taxpayers. Prior to joining the U.S. Department of Education, Kent served as Deputy Secretary of Education for the Commonwealth of Virginia, where he led initiatives to improve affordability, expand career pathways, and increase transparency across higher education institutions.

Previously, Kent held senior leadership roles in national higher education policy organizations and the private sector, including serving as Chief Policy Officer at Career Education Colleges and Universities and as founding President of the CECU Research Foundation. He began his career in education policy working with accrediting agencies and in K–12 education policy. Kent holds a bachelor’s degree from West Virginia Wesleyan College and a master’s degree from The George Washington University.

Dr. Henry Mack currently serves as the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor, overseeing the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration. Prior to federal service, Dr. Mack served in a variety of higher education and workforce development roles.

From 2019-2023, Dr. Mack served as the higher education and workforce system head for the State of Florida. As Chancellor, he was responsible for Florida’s public and nonpublic institutions of higher education—overseeing a $3 billion dollar budget with a combined K-20 student enrollment of ~1.5 million, annually. Dr. Mack led the Divisions of Florida Colleges, Career and Adult Education, Vocational Rehabilitation, Blind Services, the Florida Department of Education’s Office of Workforce Education and Economic Alignment, and the Commission for Independent Education. He was directly responsible for the State of Florida’s workforce education strategy, budget, operations, policy and finance, grants and administration, and, together with the Governor’s Office, responsible for all higher education and workforce education legislative and policy priorities.

Dr. Mack has also served as Provost, a Vice President and as a Chief Innovation Officer. He has held multiple faculty positions at Florida International University, Florida State University and the University of Miami, where he most recently taught courses in the philosophy of education, education policy, and the philosophy of religion.

Dr. Mack earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in philosophy and theology from the Catholic University of America, and doctorate in education administration and philosophy of education from the University of Miami.

Dr. Bill Cassidy is the senior senator from Louisiana and chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. He is the first physician to sit as HELP chair.

Dr. Cassidy has led Republicans on the HELP Committee since 2023, and spearheaded committee efforts to lower the price of prescription drugs, address the opioid and mental health epidemic, improve our nation’s response to natural disasters and public health emergencies, make college more affordable for students and families, protect workers’ rights and flexibilities, and ensure Americans have a secure retirement. He has also engaged in extensive government oversight and has sought to improve accountability and transparency into taxpayer-funded programs.

In addition to serving as the chair of the HELP Committee, Dr. Cassidy is a member of the Senate Finance Committee, Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

Dr. Cassidy grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and attended Louisiana State University (LSU) for undergraduate and medical school. After his medical residency, Dr. Cassidy worked for over 25 years in the Louisiana charity hospital system to ensure Louisiana families could access quality health care, regardless of income. He also joined LSU Medical School teaching medical students and residents.

During this time, Dr. Cassidy co-founded the Greater Baton Rouge Community Clinic, a clinic providing free dental and health care to the working uninsured. He also created a private-public partnership to vaccinate 36,000 greater Baton Rouge area children against Hepatitis B at no cost to the schools or parents. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, he led a group of health care volunteers to convert an abandoned K-Mart building into an emergency health care facility, providing basic health care to hurricane evacuees.

After serving in the Louisiana legislature, Dr. Cassidy was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2008 to represent Louisiana’s Sixth Congressional District, where he served on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. In the House, he was influential in the passage of the legislation to address the nation’s obesity crisis and give Americans the power to make their own health care decisions.

He is married to Dr. Laura Cassidy and they have three children. Laura is a retired general surgeon specializing in breast cancer. She also helped found a public charter school in Louisiana specialized in teaching children with dyslexia. The Cassidy family attends church at the Chapel on the Campus in Baton Rouge.