The immediate impact of the directive remains unclear given that fully dissolving the department would require action from Congress.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order Thursday afternoon aimed at dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, setting up the most contentious and far-reaching battlefront in his fight to push the bounds on presidential authority.
Yet the immediate impact of the directive remains unclear given that fully dissolving the department, created by Congress in 1979, would require action from Congress.
While the White House continues to use words like “close,” an official acknowledged the department will continue operating in some form ‒ albeit as a significantly smaller agency ‒ and continue to administer “critical programs.”
The Trump administration has shown it is willing to ignore laws set by Congress to cut federal programs through Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and dismantle entire agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development. Those efforts, however, have hit roadblocks in federal court.
Bracing for a total upheaval of the department, the head of a leading teachers union promised to sue the Trump administration over the action.
Here’s what we know:
How does Trump say he’ll change the Education Department?
Trump is directing his education secretary, Linda McMahon, to take “all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the States,” according to a White House summary of the order, which has been in the works for weeks.
The order simultaneously calls for the “uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”
Key federal programs for schools, all housed within the Education Department, cannot be removed from the department unless Congress passes new laws authorizing such a move.
Will Trump close the Education Department?
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday the Education Department won’t be abolished under Trump’s order but will be “much smaller than it is today,” adding that McMahon intends to “greatly minimize” the agency’s size.
Leavitt said the ultimate goal is to have the federal government spend less on public education by cutting “wasteful spending” while protecting “critical programs.” She did not identify what the White House constitutes as waste.
Leavitt said the Education Department has failed to deliver despite spending $3 trillion on education since it was created in 1979. “What has been the return on that investment for the American taxpayer? Levels that are less than ideal, less than proficient,” she said.
What will happen to Title I, IDEA funding and student loans?
Public schools rely on the Education Department to distribute federal education dollars, with a major stream coming from Title I, a program that boosts funding to schools serving high-poverty populations.
Leavitt said federal Title I and funding for students with disabilities ‒ as well as Pell Grants and student loans that help students pay for college ‒ will still be administered by the department under the order.
A White House official told USA TODAY McMahon intends to work on a plan to “bring these funds closer to states, localities, and, more importantly, students.”
Trump has talked about the Small Business Administration or Commerce Department potentially taking over the distribution of student loan payments. This would presumably require action from Congress.
