(LATEST UPDATE: March 20) President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday afternoon to “begin eliminating” the U.S. Department of Education. Surrounded by students at a White House ceremony, he introduced Linda McMahon as “hopefully” the last secretary of education.
“My administration will take all lawful steps to shut down the department and shut it down as quickly as possible,” Trump said. “We’re going to be returning education back to the states where it belongs. The costs will be half and the education will be many, many times better.”
Eliminating the department requires an act of Congress, where Democrats have enough seats to block such a measure. In the meantime, Trump and McMahon can strip the agency of all of its responsibilities.
On Thursday, Trump said Department of Education staff who oversee core functions such as Title I, services for students with disabilities and Pell Grants will remain. Those programs will be “preserved in full” under administration by other agencies.
He also called teachers “among the most important people in the country.” “We’re going to take care of our teachers,” he pledged. “I believe states will take better care of them.”
Last week, McMahon began dismantling the agency by laying off half its staff and Trump’s comments Thursday appeared to promise more staff reductions.
The Trump Administration contends that the Department of Education has spent over $3 trillion since its creation in 1979 but there has been “virtually no measurable improvement in student achievement.” For example, the White House cited statistics that show math and reading scores for 13-year-olds are at the lowest level in decades.
“Instead of a bloated federal system that burdens schools with regulations and paperwork, the Trump Administration believes states should be empowered to expand educational freedom and opportunity for all families,” the administration said in a statement earlier Thursday.
Trump’s actions will almost certainly draw a legal response from teachers unions and the departments’ other proponents. “See you in court,” is the terse statement that American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten posted.
Here is the full text of Trump’s executive order.
(LAST UPDATE: March 18) Democratic congressional leaders are demanding more details regarding Secretary of Education Linda McMahon’s decision to wipe out 50% of the Department of Education’s workforce.
The letter, sent by Sen. Patti Murray of Washington, Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, identifies key areas of concern, including federal student aid programs and services for students with disabilities.
Specifically, the 10-page letter, addressed to Linda McMahon and Institute of Education Sciences Acting Director Matthew Soldner, demands details on:
- The total expected savings in salaries and benefits in FY2025.
- The share of the department’s FY2024 budget that these savings represent.
- How many remaining staff were assigned additional duties?
- The average number of new duties assigned to remaining staff.
- A complete list of office teams terminated.
It also asks for clarification on how the staff cuts reflect McMahon’s statement that accompanied her confirmation, which included a promise to commit to efficiency.
“How do these reductions reflect the department’s ‘commitment to efficiency,’” the letter reads. “Please provide three examples and the analysis supporting the expected changes.”
They also suggest the department is obligated to provide details on how it plans to use taxpayer dollars to carry out the president’s vision given Donald Trump’s “disregard for appropriations and other laws,” the letter reads. The congressional leaders request a response from the department to each of the concerns mentioned in the letter by March 21.
“Given the profound change to staff, budgets, and agency operations promised by this administration, it is critical that we receive additional information on these staffing reductions and changes to agency operations,” the letter reads.
(LATEST UPDATE: March 12) Student loans and Pell Grants are safe, but this week’s mass firings at the Department of Education represent the “first step” of President Donald Trump’s plan to shut down the agency, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon says.
McMahon has initiated a 50% reduction in force at her department, scheduled to be completed by March 21. She told Fox News that the Department of Education staffers who were not terminated are involved in managing “outward-facing” programs such as Pell and student loans.
The Trump administration’s goal is to eliminate “red tape” that holds up education funding and give more financial control to states, McMahon said in a Fox News interview Tuesday night.
“What we did today is take the first step in eliminating bureaucratic bloat,” she said. “[Trump has] taken bureaucracy out of education so that more money flows to states, and better education is closest to kids.”
The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) has said that the department needs to be reorganized for greater accountability but that reductions should be made strategically.
“Our primary concern is the lack of transparency about which functional areas are being cut, why specific departments have been selected for dismantling, and how the transition will be managed without disruption to students or the nation’s institutions of higher education,” NASFAA Interim President and CEO Beth Maglione said.
“Claiming that eliminating half the Department won’t affect its services—without any clear plan to redistribute the workload—is, at best, naive and, at worst, deliberately misleading.”
(LATEST UPDATE: Feb. 13) Calling the Department of Education “a big con job,” President Donald Trump said that he wants the agency “closed immediately,” a video from CNN shows.
His comments came as the Department of Education remained open but was reportedly firing staff and Trump’s nominee for education secretary, Linda McMahon, was appearing at a confirmation hearing, according to multiple reports.
“They rank the top 40 countries in the world, we’re ranked No. 40th,” Trump said when a reporter asked him about the department’s future. “But we’re ranked No. 1 in one department: Cost per pupil.”
Politico reported that the Department of Education this week terminated “a swath” of employees. Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency have been moving aggressively to shrink the size of the federal government.
Many of the laid-off employees were probationary, working in the Office for Civil Rights, Federal Student Aid, and Office of Communications and Outreach, Politico reported.
Earlier in the week, DOGE canceled $900 million in contracts at the Institute of Education Sciences, a research arm of the Department of Education that tracks academic performance, contains the National Center for Education Statistics and produces the Nation’s Report Card, ProPublica reported.
Department of Education: Latest developments show agency in crosshairs
(LAST UPDATE: Feb. 10) News about the fate of the Department of Education is swirling, with rising concerns that Elon Musk’s DOGE personnel are accessing sensitive student data.
The following article is a part of University Business’ ongoing coverage of President Donald J. Trump’s impact on higher education during his second term in office. Click here for weekly updates.
Aside from the murky implications for K12 and higher education, Musk over the weekend claimed on X that the education department does not “exist,” according to MSNBC.
On Friday, Democratic members of Congress were barred from entering the Department of Education, The New York Times reported. The lawmakers attempted to visit with acting education secretary Denise L. Carter, who had not responded to an earlier request for a meeting about whether President Donald Trump intends to close the department, the newspaper said.
More from UB: Transgender athletes now banned from NCAA women’s sports—but not practice
The Associated Press also noted the lawmakers’ fears that Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is now examining student loan databases and other systems. Those concerns have sparked a lawsuit from college students in California, according to USA Today.
The University of California Student Association claims DOGE is “violating privacy laws and federal regulations by infiltrating computer systems that house student financial aid information” in its lawsuit filed Friday.
Transgender students
Last week, Trump signed an executive order restricting transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports in K12 and higher ed. The administration has gone further, according to ProPublica.
The investigative website reported the Department of Education has told employees that it will cancel all programs that don’t affirm biological sex, such as mental health counseling.
Reports: Trump now ready to dismantle Department of Education
(LAST UPDATE: Feb. 4) Multiple reports warned that President Donald Trump is preparing an executive order to impose severe cutbacks on the U.S. Department of Education and eventually shut the agency down.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Department of Education is the next target of Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) program to shrink the federal government. Trump is apparently preparing an executive order that would eliminate “all functions of the agency that aren’t written explicitly into statute,” the report said.
Trump may also ask Congress to “abolish” the department, the Wall Street Journal contends. In characterizing the situation, ABC News said Trump was “finalizing plans” to shutter the agency.
‘Compliance U’: Colleges and universities are facing new legal complexities
Throughout his campaign, Trump made clear his intentions to make dramatic changes to the U.S. Department of Education and the K12 and higher education systems. His administration has already eliminated the agency’s DEI initiatives, moved to expand school choice and root out so-called “indoctrination” in K12 instruction.
Despite its uncertain future, the agency is preparing to crack down on campus anti-Semitism in the wake of protests against Israel’s actions in the Gaza war. By executive order, Trump directed the Department of Education and other agencies to identify all civil and criminal powers to curb anti-Semitism on campus.
The order requires the secretaries of state, education and homeland security to work together to guide colleges and universities to monitor “alien students and staff” and report any anti-Semitic activities. These students and staff could then be investigated and “removed,” the order says.
The agency also wiped out Title IX updates made by the Biden administration, reverting to rules imposed during the first Trump administration. The department is now enforcing protections based on biological sex in K12 schools and higher education institutions.
Trump’s 2020 ruling also ensures that free speech is protected on campus and allows for stronger due process protections for students during Title IX sexual misconduct proceedings.
In recent days, the Trump administration has acted in other ways to reduce the size of the federal government. The Office of Management and Budget has offered buyouts to federal employees and DOGE has taken steps to close USAID, the federal humanitarian aid agency.
