According to multiple reports, President Trump is preparing to make good on his campaign promise to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.
First reported by The Wall Street Journal, White House officials confirm the administration is preparing an executive order to eliminate the department. That executive order could come as soon as the end of February.
The Department of Education was created in 1979 when Congress passed the Department of Education Act. Even with an executive order, Trump would not be able to single-handedly eliminate the department – it would require another act of Congress.
Still, the news is jarring to many who see the President’s recent actions as a monumental power grab. Just last week, Trump effectively shut down the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The agency is responsible for supporting individuals in need around the globe by providing supplies of food and medicine. Over the last year, it has been instrumental in working to get resources to the people of Gaza amid Israel’s attacks.
USAID workers were locked out of the office on Monday, and hundreds showed up to protest the State Department takeover of the organization.
At the protest outside of USAID, Democrats spoke out against the Trump administration. Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy told the crowd “make no mistake, we are in a constitutional crisis”. Minnesota representative Ilhan Omar made clear that power grabs like this are the hallmark of “a dictator”.
Department of Education employees call their experience under Trump “hell”
Now as Trump makes similar moves against the Department of Education, groups across the country are sounding alarm bells.
The purge began last week when dozens of employees working on DEI initiatives were placed on administrative leave.
One veteran employee told ABC News it was like living in “paid administrative hell”.
“It’s very, very, unsettling,” the employee remarked. “I don’t get it. What’s my crime? What have I done?”
The Department of Education plays key roles in getting necessary funding to states across the country. It also ensures students with disabilities receive the support and resources they are entitled to under the law. Absent a federal department of education, this responsibility and power would fall entirely to the states.
The Department also oversees all federal student loans and grants, ensuring students have access to funding to attend college. More than 40 million Americans are currently in the process of paying student loans – the Trump administration, which opposes student loan forgiveness, has yet to lay out plans for how those loans will be managed if the department is abolished.
USAID, the Department of Education, and other key organizations in the government are on the chopping block as Trump gives Elon Musk enormous power to gut federal spending. It remains unclear whether Republicans in Congress will back the effort to eliminate the department, a move that would likely disproportionately affect states Trump won in the 2024 election.