UJ
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President Donald Trump may make a decision this week to initiate steps towards disbanding the Department of Education, as sources indicate, in a bid to significantly reduce the scale of the federal government.
White House insiders have drafted an executive order instructing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to kick off the process of dismantling the department. Trump is expected to sign the order as soon as Thursday, though details have not been fully ironed out.
Trump has consistently expressed his desire to eliminate the department, but doing so will necessitate action from Congress, McMahon noted during her confirmation hearings earlier this year. She received confirmation on Monday.
UJ had previously reported that the administration was crafting an order to commence the closure of the Department of Education. Trump also plans to advocate for legislative measures to dismantle the department.
The proposed order directs McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Education Department” while operating to the “maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.”
“The attempt to manage American education via federal programs and funds—and the unaccountable bureaucrats supported by those programs and funds—has failed our children, teachers, and families,” the drafted order states.
Although the calls to abolish the Education Department or consolidate it with another federal agency are not novel, such proposals have historically lacked Congressional support.
On the campaign trail, Trump consistently pointed to the department as emblematic of federal overreach, linking it to cultural issues. “We will drain the government education swamp and halt the misuse of taxpayer dollars to indoctrinate America’s youth with matters that you do not want them exposed to,” he asserted.
“I told Linda (McMahon), ‘Linda, I hope you do an excellent job in eliminating your own position.’ I want her to put herself out of a job – the Education Department,” Trump remarked last month.
Should Trump succeed in abolishing the department, it remains possible that certain programs and funding could be absorbed and transferred to other agencies, where they were originally located prior to the department’s establishment in 1979.
Federal funding initiatives for K-12 schools that assist in the education of low-income students and those with disabilities, for instance, existed before the inception of the Department of Education.
Shortly after being confirmed, McMahon communicated with her staff in a message titled “Our Department’s Final Mission,” inviting employees to “join us in this historic final mission on behalf of all students.”
“This is our chance to deliver one final, unforgettable public service to future generations of students,” she stated. “I hope you will join me in ensuring that when our final mission is complete, we can confidently say that we left American education freer, stronger, and filled with hope for the future.”
Referring to a review of the department’s programs as “long overdue,” McMahon expressed her agreement with Trump’s goal to grant states greater control over education and empower parents to make educational choices for their children.
However, she cautioned that these actions will “profoundly affect staff, budgets, and agency operations here at the Department.”
