President Donald Trump is moving forward with plans to abolish the Department of Education.
Trump is expected to sign an executive order following through on a campaign promise to disband the department, claiming on the campaign trail that the department was full of “radicals, zealots and Marxists.”
A White House fact sheet states that the move will “turn over education to families instead of bureaucracies. Trump and proponents of eliminating the department have long said the agency has failed American students.
“NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) scores reveal a national crisis — our children are falling behind,” Harrison Fields, the White House principal deputy press secretary, told Fox News. “Over the past four years, Democrats have allowed millions of illegal minors into the country, straining school resources and diverting focus from American students.”
“Coupled with the rise of anti-American CRT and DEI indoctrination, this is harming our most vulnerable,” he added. “President Trump’s executive order to expand educational opportunities will empower parents, states, and communities to take control and improve outcomes for all students.”
The directive comes after the Senate voted to confirm Linda McMahon, former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), to lead the agency on March 3. McMahon issued a memo later that day outlining her support for the Trump administration’s plans for the department and that she would oversee a “new era of accountability” in the agency’s final days.
“The reality of our education system is stark, and the American people have elected President Trump to make significant changes in Washington,” McMahon said in the March 3 memo. “Our job is to respect the will of the American people and the President they elected, who has tasked us with accomplishing the elimination of bureaucratic bloat here at the Department of Education — a momentous final mission — quickly and responsibly.”
Following reports that Trump planned to sign the executive order, the American Federation of Teachers issued a statement imploring Congress to oppose the executive order and “to make clear to the president that the federal government, in the face of this order, will not abdicate its responsibility to all children, students and working families, who deserve a future full of promise and possibility, not diminished dreams.”
The teacher’s union pointed to an NPR/PBS News/Marist Poll conducted in February that found more than 60% of Americans “strongly oppose” eradicating the agency.
“The Department of Education, and the laws it is supposed to execute, has one major purpose: to level the playing field and fill opportunity gaps to help every child in America succeed,” the American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said in a March 5 statement. “Trying to abolish it — which, by the way, only Congress can do — sends a message that the president doesn’t care about opportunity for all kids. Maybe he cares about it for his own kids or his friends’ kids or his donors’ kids — but not all kids.”
Despite spending billions of dollars on education, student outcomes haven’t fared any better. The White House cited 13 Baltimore high schools in which no students tested proficient in mathematics in 2023, as well as money spent to teach “radical ideologies.”
“The Trump Administration recently canceled $226 million in grants under the Comprehensive Centers Program that forced radical agendas onto states and systems, including race-based discrimination and gender identity ideology,” the fact sheet states.
Under the Biden administration, schools have been forced to redirect resources to comply with “ideological initiatives,” social experiments and obsolete programs, the White House said.
In addition, Trump has supported bringing education back to the states and a rethinking of schools.
“I want every parent in America to be empowered to send their child to public, private, charter, or faith-based school of their choice,” he said. “The time for universal school choice has come. As we return education to the states, I will use every power I have to give parents this right.”
Despite Trump’s order, the president needs Congress to sign off on eradicating the agency, under Article II of the U.S. Constitution. Such a measure would require 60 votes to pass in the Senate, and there are only 53 Republicans currently.
Still, there is some appetite in Congress to eliminate the department. For example, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., introduced a measure Jan. 31 to nix the Department of Education by December 2026.
“Unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., should not be in charge of our children’s intellectual and moral development,” Massie said in a Jan. 31 statement. “States and local communities are best positioned to shape curricula that meet the needs of their students. Schools should be accountable.”
Trump told reporters on Feb. 4 that even though he’d nominated McMahon to lead the Department of Education, he eventually wanted her to lose her job.
“What I want to do is let the states run schools,” Trump said. “I believe strongly in school choice. But in addition to that, I want the states to run schools, and I want Linda to put herself out of a job.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also signaled that the American people could count on Trump to move forward with such plans to disband the department.
“President Trump campaigned on that promise, and I think the American people can expect him to deliver on it,” Leavitt told Stuart Varney on “Varney & Co.” on Feb. 4.
The Department of Education, established in 1980, seeks to improve coordination of federal education programs and support state and local school systems, according to its website.
