Trump may order elimination of the Education Department. Here’s what would happen next.
President Donald Trump is considering eliminating the Department of Education through an executive order, but it’s Congress — and potentially the courts — that would ultimately decide whether the $80 billion agency is extinguished.
Among the president’s most consistent pledges during his campaign was to shutter the Department of Education, “sending all education and education work … back to the states.”
Trump’s vision wouldn’t be to altogether eliminate the hundreds of millions of dollars that filter down into individual states, but instead empower local leaders to decide how best to allocate funds in their districts.
It’s a goal that’s long been shared by libertarian-minded and small-government Republicans who distrust the federal bureaucracy, including new Education Secretary Linda McMahon. But the complete dissolution of an agency requires congressional approval and, even if that occurs, legal challenges are expected from education advocates and attorneys general.
Congress
Despite GOP majorities in both chambers of Congress, 60 Senate votes would likely be necessary to seal the beleaguered department’s fate — a threshold that is rarely met on controversial issues since it requires bipartisan backing in a closely divided Senate.
When Trump proposed merging the Education and Labor departments during his first term, Republican majorities in Congress did nothing to act on it.
Given the president’s ironclad hold on his party, this time could be different.
A proposal in the Senate would seek to move most of the Education Department’s functions to different cabinet agencies like the Treasury Department and the Department of Health & Human Services. A formula based on population and need would divvy up funds to states without many strings attached.
In the House, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky has drafted one-sentence legislation that succinctly states, “The Department of Education shall terminate on December 31, 2026.”
What happens to federal programs?
Created in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter, the Department of Education actually only provides 8% of the total funding to America’s primary and secondary public schools, but the agency helps target the money based on poverty levels, population and local needs. The department is the smallest of all 15 Cabinet agencies, even though its budget is the third largest, behind the Defense Department and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Experts say that abolishing the Education Department won’t necessarily mean the end to programs like federal student aid and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, but critics worry that some states won’t be equipped to manage the new responsibility and that the most vulnerable could fall through the cracks of a new system.
“No one likes bureaucracy, and everyone’s in favor of more efficiency, so let’s find ways to accomplish that. But don’t use a war on woke to attack the children living in poverty and the children with disabilities, in order to pay for vouchers and tax cuts for billionaires,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.
States could attempt to absorb and manage the billions of dollars in grants and aid housed at the Department of Education, but regional disputes over disparities in resource allocation could prove divisive.
Some critics also worry that an elimination could neuter federal mandates for programs like Title I, which funds schools in low-income areas.
The proposal is likely to galvanize beleaguered Democrats and will pose a messaging test for Republicans, who will be forced to explain how eliminating the department won’t hinder the education of their children.
Just 1 in 10 voters — including only 17% of Republicans — told Morning Consult last month they would support eliminating funding for the federal department.
