Trump advisers have been mulling actions to tear down the department as part of the advisory Department of Government Efficiency’s goal of reducing the size of government, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
ABC News then reported that sources were briefed on drafts of the order, which has circulated among top administration officials.
The outlet said the proposed order is expected to call for the education secretary to submit a proposal to deconstruct the department and for Congress to pass legislation to abolish it.
The draft order acknowledges that only Congress can shut down the department and instead directs the agency to begin to diminish itself, The Washington Post reported.
Trump is expected to sign the order sometime this month, laying out a two-part strategy for shuttering the agency, Politico reported.
The order was expected to craft a plan to wind down its functions using existing administrative authority and call for the agency to inventory a complex set of laws needed to delegate the department’s powers to other agencies and then close the department, the outlet reported.
Congressional approval would be needed for some of conservatives’ biggest desires, and GOP lawmakers admit they currently lack enough support for legislation to close the department.
Still, DOGE representatives were working at Education Department headquarters Monday and seeking access to agency records, Politico and the Post reported.
Trump campaigned on education reform and suggested closing the department, which became a Cabinet-level agency in 1980. He has said education should be the responsibility of the states.
Trump’s education secretary nominee Linda McMahon has not yet had a Senate confirmation hearing. Politico reported that an executive order dismantling the department could put McMahon in a difficult position to answer questions about the president’s agenda.
“Common sense tells me they won’t do that until the secretary is confirmed,” one person told the outlet.
“That’s partly politics, but there will be deadlines in that executive order. The secretary is going to need every day to meet those deadlines. To start the clock on her before she can start working on it, common sense tells me they wouldn’t do that to her.”