President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order today (March 20) calling for the dismantling of the U.S. Education Department. Secretary Linda McMahon has said the administration’s goal would be “a better functioning” department.
According to the Associated Press, it would mean the administration advancing a campaign promise to eliminate the agency. President Trump himself has called the Education Department wasteful and polluted by liberal ideology. AP reports that completing its dismantling is most likely impossible without an act of Congress, which created the department in 1979
What Will The Order Against The Department Of Education Say?
The White House has not formally spelled out which Department of Education functions could be handed off to other departments or eliminated altogether. However, an official fact sheet says Secretary Linda McMahon would lead the agency’s wine down. She would have to “facilitate the closure (of) the Department of Education and return education authority to the States.” At the same time, she must continue “the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”
Education Secretary Linda McMahon arrives before President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Trump’s action will also make the department much smaller than it is today. Already, Trump’s Republican administration has been gutting the agency and slashing its workforce. The administration has also cut into the resources of the Office for Civil Rights and the Institute of Education Sciences, which gathers data on the nation’s academic progress.
However, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that the department will continue managing federal student loans and Pell grants. She said other critical department duties, such as civil rights enforcement, would remain, but she did not say how they would be fulfilled. “The great responsibility of education, educating our nation’s students, will return to the states,” Leavitt told reporters Thursday.
Meanwhile, Trump Long Ago Promised To Dismantle It
In his platform, Donald Trump promised to close the department “and send it back to the states, where it belongs.” Republicans have also talked about closing the Education Department for decades. Many have said the Department wastes taxpayer money and inserts the federal government into decisions that should fall to states and schools.
Trump has cast the department as a hotbed of “radicals, zealots and Marxists” who overextend their reach through guidance and regulation. Even as Trump moves to dismantle the department, he has leaned on it to promote elements of his agenda.
President Trump has used the investigative powers of the Office for Civil Rights and the threat of withdrawing federal education money to target schools and colleges that run afoul of his orders on transgender athletes participating in women’s sports, pro-Palestinian activism, and diversity programs.
The idea of shutting the agency down gained popularity recently as conservative parents’ groups demanded more authority over their children’s schooling. Take Tiffany Justice as an example. She’s the co-founder of Moms for Liberty. On social media, she wrote, “No more bloated bureaucracy dictating what kids learn or stifling innovation with red tape.”She added, “States, communities, and parents can take the reins—tailoring education to what actually works for their kids.”
Pushback & Doubt Sounds Like This…
Advocates for public schools said eliminating the department would leave more kids behind than help them.
“This isn’t fixing education,” the National Parents Union said in a statement. “It’s making sure millions of children never get a fair shot. And we’re not about to let that happen without a fight.”
Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia believes Trump’s order is “dangerous and illegal” and will disproportionately hurt low-income students, students of color, and those with disabilities. Scott is the top Democrat on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
The Department of Education “was founded in part to guarantee the enforcement of students’ civil rights,” Scott said. “Champions of public school segregation objected and campaigned for a return to ‘states’ rights.'”
Still, some of Trump’s allies have questioned his power to close the agency without action from Congress. There are also doubts about its political popularity. The House considered an amendment to close the agency in 2023, but 60 Republicans joined Democrats in opposing it.
During Trump’s first term, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos sought to dramatically reduce the agency’s budget. DeVos asked Congress to bundle all K-12 funding into block grants that give states more flexibility in how they spend federal money. That move was rejected, also with pushback from some Republicans.
Loading ... 