Trump signs executive order aimed at dismantling the Department of Education
Updated: 6:50 PM EDT Mar 20, 2025
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to start dismantling the Department of Education, saying he wants to return education authority to the states.”Today, we take a very historic action that was 45 years in the making,” Trump said. “My administration will take all lawful steps to shut down the department. We’re going to shut it down and shut it down as quickly as possible.”According to a White House fact sheet, the executive order “directs the Secretary of Education to take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the states, while continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”The press secretary says the agency will continue to handle federal student loans and Pell Grants, and other critical duties like Title One, special education funding, and civil rights enforcement will remain.”Any critical functions of the department, such as that will remain, but again, we’re greatly reducing the scale and the size of this department,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.The National Education Association questions how those functions will continue and the plan for it.”This is about the privatization of public education. That’s what it’s about,” said Princess Moss, National Education Association vice president.Moss said this latest move will hurt students by sending class sizes soaring, taking away support for those with disabilities, and cutting job training programs.”Dismantling these programs would be like taking a wrecking ball to public education,” Moss said.Education Secretary Linda McMahon acknowledged Congress, which created the department in 1979, would have to be the one to officially shut it down.”It clearly cannot be shut down without it,” McMahon said.Some experts say eliminating the department completely would be difficult with the current makeup of Congress. The administration is already working to slash the agency’s workforce in half. This isn’t the first time Trump has attempted to make significant changes to American education. In his first term, then-Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos asked Congress to significantly reduce the agency’s budget. That move was rejected, with pushback from some Republicans.House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries responded to the new executive order in a statement saying:”Donald Trump and House Republicans are crashing the economy in real-time. They believe that giving massive tax breaks to billionaires is more important than supporting our public school children. Congress created the Department of Education and only an act of Congress can eliminate it. We will stop this malignant Republican scheme in the House of Representatives and in the Courts.”
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to start dismantling the Department of Education, saying he wants to return education authority to the states.
“Today, we take a very historic action that was 45 years in the making,” Trump said. “My administration will take all lawful steps to shut down the department. We’re going to shut it down and shut it down as quickly as possible.”
According to a White House fact sheet, the executive order “directs the Secretary of Education to take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the states, while continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”
The press secretary says the agency will continue to handle federal student loans and Pell Grants, and other critical duties like Title One, special education funding, and civil rights enforcement will remain.
“Any critical functions of the department, such as that will remain, but again, we’re greatly reducing the scale and the size of this department,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
The National Education Association questions how those functions will continue and the plan for it.
“This is about the privatization of public education. That’s what it’s about,” said Princess Moss, National Education Association vice president.
Moss said this latest move will hurt students by sending class sizes soaring, taking away support for those with disabilities, and cutting job training programs.
“Dismantling these programs would be like taking a wrecking ball to public education,” Moss said.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon acknowledged Congress, which created the department in 1979, would have to be the one to officially shut it down.
“It clearly cannot be shut down without it,” McMahon said.
Some experts say eliminating the department completely would be difficult with the current makeup of Congress. The administration is already working to slash the agency’s workforce in half.
This isn’t the first time Trump has attempted to make significant changes to American education. In his first term, then-Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos asked Congress to significantly reduce the agency’s budget. That move was rejected, with pushback from some Republicans.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries responded to the new executive order in a statement saying:
“Donald Trump and House Republicans are crashing the economy in real-time. They believe that giving massive tax breaks to billionaires is more important than supporting our public school children. Congress created the Department of Education and only an act of Congress can eliminate it. We will stop this malignant Republican scheme in the House of Representatives and in the Courts.”
