He didn’t rule out executive action at that time but said he would prefer to work with Congress and teachers unions to dismantle the agency and move education appropriations to other federal agencies and the states.
Since then, he has taken a two-pronged approach to eliminate the agency: first by cutting the agency in half through layoffs, canceling contracts, and discontinuing facility leases, then second by issuing an executive order that directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take all necessary steps to facilitate the agency’s closure and return education authority to the states.
Education policy experts say the approach is uncharted territory.
On March 20, Trump issued an executive order calling for the end of “a bloated federal system that burdens schools with regulations and paperwork.”
The agency will remain responsible for Title I funding for low-income student populations, special education programs, and Pell grants for college students, but all other roles will be transferred to states.
Trump said that when President Jimmy Carter created the agency in 1979, there was strong opposition from Cabinet members, the American Federation of Teachers, and some Democrats in Congress.
“History has proven them right, absolutely right,” Trump said, noting that the United States leads the world in public education spending but lags in K–12 academic performance.
“That’s where we’re at, like it or not, and we’ve been there a long time,” the president said.
Ahead of the announcement, congressional Democrats maintained their opposition to any department cuts, let alone its elimination, while Republicans supported Trump’s intentions.
No Democrat or independent senator voted to confirm McMahon. She pledged to put herself out of a job and, within days of taking the oath of office, laid off half her staff.
Other than the importance of career and technical education, the only idea that McMahon and Senate Democrats agreed on during her confirmation hearing was that Congress alone, which established the federal agency 46 years ago, has the authority to eliminate it.
How Far Can the Order Go?
Thomas Berry, director of the Center for Constitutional Studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, said the Constitution grants the federal government only “limited, enumerated powers, none of which encompass education policy.”
“The president should make a clear case for why his oath to defend the Constitution requires today’s action,” Berry said in an email response to The Epoch Times. “If he does so, this action could be an important step toward restoring the federal government to its proper role.”
He noted that beyond those line items, many federal education programs could be cut—without constitutional implications—to the tune of several billion dollars.
Jonathan Williams, president and chief economist of the American Legislative Exchange Council, told The Epoch Times that McMahon can accomplish “specific reduction tasks executively, but other provisions require cooperation from members of Congress.”
He’s optimistic that some Democrats will eventually support decentralizing the Department of Education when they see the benefits of state autonomy and more control over their share of federal money for schools.
“It’s like state legislators across the country, regardless of party affiliation, to have them be able to customize the education approach that works best for their states and ultimately works best for the families and children themselves,” Williams said.
Corey DeAngelis, an adjunct scholar at Cato’s Center for Educational Freedom, told NTD, The Epoch Times sister media company, that lawmakers have already drafted bills to move federal education aid for K–12 schools and college Pell Grants to the Treasury Department, which would block grant the money to states.
Additional legislation is expected to move special education functions to the Department of Health and Human Services and school-related civil rights enforcement to the Department of Justice.
DeAngelis noted that Republicans don’t have the 60 votes needed in the Senate to abolish the Department of Education.
Despite this, he said, “Linda McMahon and Trump are taking the steps necessary. Even if they don’t wipe it off the face of the earth and kill it completely, hopefully, they can give a death by 1,000 cuts and kill it from the inside.”
“By dismantling the department, Trump is gutting its ability to support public schools, stripping resources from students, and leaving states to fend for themselves. This is an attempt to bypass Congress and force an unpopular agenda on the American people,” Glenn Harris, the organization’s president, said in an email to The Epoch Times.
After Trump signed the executive order, McMahon said the changes to her department were legal.
“Closing the department does not mean cutting off funds from those who depend on them—we will continue to support K–12 students, students with special needs, college student borrowers, and others who rely on essential programs,” her statement reads.
Actions and Challenges
So far, about 2,000 positions within the agency and more than $1 billion in contracts have been canceled, while billions more in federal aid for university and K–12 education hangs in the balance for schools that violate prior Trump executive orders prohibiting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and ideologically-based education, in accordance with civil rights laws.
The complaint, filed by New York Attorney General Leticia James, asks a Massachusetts federal court to overrule Trump’s actions and protect the department from elimination.
A federal court in Massachusetts has already temporarily blocked the Department of Education from cutting $250 million in federal teacher training grants.
A lawsuit from the American Federation of Teachers and the American Sociological Association challenges Trump’s Feb. 14 warning letter noting that schools could lose federal funding if they don’t cease DEI programs within 14 days.
“We won’t be silent as anti-public education politicians try to steal opportunities from our students, our families, and our communities to pay for tax cuts for billionaires,” said Becky Pringle, president of the organization.
“Together with parents and allies, we will continue to organize, advocate, and mobilize so that all students have well-resourced schools that allow every student to grow into their full brilliance.”