According to the White House, US President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Thursday with the goal of dismantling the Department of Education.
In addition to the widespread personnel reductions revealed last week, the move—which he pledged to do during the campaign—is already being challenged in court by individuals attempting to stop the department’s collapse.
Some conservatives have long loved Trump’s desire to abolish the department, but congressional approval would be needed to do so.
And with the narrow 53-47 Republican majority in the Senate, that is viewed as improbable. 60 votes would be needed to pass major legislation, like closing a department.
As was the case with the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which subsequently discontinued the great majority of its programs and humanitarian work, the Trump administration may cut off the department’s funding and personnel even if it is not officially shut down.
Later Thursday, a ceremony at the White House is anticipated to sign the president’s order to the education department. According to reports, Republican state governors, including Ron DeSantis of Florida, will be present at the signing.
A White House spokesperson stated on Wednesday that the order would “expand educational opportunities” and “empower parents, states, and communities to take control and improve outcomes for all students.”
The education department was founded in 1979 and is responsible for managing student loan administration, public school funding, and low-income student assistance programs.
Trump has charged that it indoctrinates youth with political, sexual, and racial content.
Contrary to popular belief, states and local districts are in charge of setting curricula and running US schools.
Additionally, only around 13% of primary and secondary school funding comes from federal sources. States and local groupings make up the bulk.
Millions of Americans utilise federal student loans to finance their higher education, and the agency is heavily involved in managing and supervising these loans.
“Our Department’s Final Mission” was the title of a memo that Trump’s Education Secretary Linda McMahon addressed to the 4,400 staff members of the department shortly after she took office.
“This is our opportunity to perform one final, unforgettable public service to future generations of students,” she stated in her letter.
“I hope you will join me in ensuring that when our final mission is complete; we will be able to say that we left American education freer, stronger, and with more hope for the future.”
According to earlier rumours, Trump will try to shut down some of the department’s programs and transfer others to other departments, such the Treasury.
The agency is pushing liberal views on gender and race, according to Trump and other Republicans, who have accused it of advancing a “woke” political agenda.
According to the largest teachers’ union in America, Trump “doesn’t care about opportunity for all kids” and recently criticised his proposals.
The AFT stated in its statement: “Let’s find ways to achieve greater efficiency, as everyone dislikes bureaucracy.
After it is signed, the order to start closing the department is probably going to be challenged in court.
The majority of kids in the US go to free public schools run by local authorities. State governments and school districts make curricular decisions, and they receive almost all of their money from local and state taxes.
By the end of 1979, Congress created the current cabinet-level department.
The demand to reverse it in favour of “local needs and preferences” and to save money was initiated two years later by Republican former President Ronald Reagan.
At less than 2% of the federal budget, it employs 4,400 people, making it the smallest agency in the president’s cabinet.
The Trump administration’s massive labour reductions, spearheaded by the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), a White House division, have already affected some of those employees. They were put on paid administrative leave, laid off, or encouraged to retire.
Doge’s attempts to drastically cut federal spending and reorganise or even abolish numerous government institutions have been supervised by Elon Musk.
The Trump administration said last week that it would eliminate around half of the education department’s employees.
Nearly 2,100 employees will be impacted by the layoffs and will be placed on leave starting on March 21.