Trump signs executive order to dismantle the Education Department

Palmdale, California. On Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order instructing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to initiate the process of dismantling the Department of Education.

According to a White House report, Trump instructed his education secretary, Linda McMahon, to take all necessary measures to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and restore education authority to the states.

Trump’s administration plans to eliminate the department’s non-essential functions while retaining its responsibilities for Title I funding for low-income schools, Pell grants, and financial assistance for children with disabilities. Earlier, the White House had announced its intention to continue managing federal student loans.

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to enable parents, teachers, and communities to best ensure student success, it is hereby ordered:Section 1.  Purpose and Policy.  Our Nation’s bright future relies on empowered families, engaged communities, and excellent educational opportunities for every child.  Unfortunately, the experiment of controlling American education through Federal programs and dollars — and the unaccountable bureaucracy those programs and dollars support — has plainly failed our children, our teachers, and our families.Taxpayers spent around $200 billion at the Federal level on schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, on top of the more than $60 billion they spend annually on Federal school funding.  This money is largely distributed by one of the newest Cabinet agencies, the Department of Education, which has existed for less than one fifth of our Nation’s history.  The Congress created the Department of Education in 1979 at the urging of President Jimmy Carter, who received a first-ever Presidential endorsement from the country’s largest teachers’ union shortly after pledging to the union his support for a separate Department of Education.  Since then, the Department of Education has entrenched the education bureaucracy and sought to convince America that Federal control over education is beneficial.  While the Department of Education does not educate anyone, it maintains a public relations office that includes over 80 staffers at a cost of more than $10 million per year.Closing the Department of Education would provide children and their families the opportunity to escape a system that is failing them.  Today, American reading and math scores are near historical lows.  This year’s National Assessment of Educational Progress showed that 70 percent of 8th graders were below proficient in reading, and 72 percent were below proficient in math.  The Federal education bureaucracy is not working.  Closure of the Department of Education would drastically improve program implementation in higher education.  

The Department of Education currently manages a student loan debt portfolio of more than $1.6 trillion.  This means the Federal student aid program is roughly the size of one of the Nation’s largest banks, Wells Fargo.  But although Wells Fargo has more than 200,000 employees, the Department of Education has fewer than 1,500 in its Office of Federal Student Aid.  The Department of Education is not a bank, and it must return bank functions to an entity equipped to serve America’s students.Ultimately, the Department of Education’s main functions can, and should, be returned to the States. 

Sec. 2.  Closing the Department of Education and Returning Authority to the States.  (a)  The Secretary of Education shall, to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law, take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities while ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.

(b)  Consistent with the Department of Education’s authorities, the Secretary of Education shall ensure that the allocation of any Federal Department of Education funds is subject to rigorous compliance with Federal law and Administration policy, including the requirement that any program or activity receiving Federal assistance terminate illegal discrimination obscured under the label “diversity, equity, and inclusion” or similar terms and programs promoting gender ideology.Sec. 3.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. 

DONALD J. TRUMP

Governor Gavin Newsom issued the following statement today in response to President Donald Trump signing an executive order beginning the process of eliminating the U.S. Department of Education

“This overreach needs to be rejected immediately by a co-equal branch of government. Or was Congress eliminated by this executive order, too?”

California Attorney General Bonta today issued the following statement on President Trump’s executive order attempting to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education:

“The Trump Administration knows, and even acknowledges, that the President cannot eliminate the U.S. Department of Education without Congressional approval. Yet it continues to do everything it can to destroy the Department’s ability to carry out its most vital, congressionally-mandated functions – with the clearly stated ‘final mission’ of shuttering the Department for good.

“My office will be looking at what this executive order actually does – not what the President says it will do. We will be monitoring closely to see how the President’s instructions to Education Secretary McMahon translate into concrete actions.

“Rest assured: I will not let President Trump’s reckless efforts to fulfill his campaign promises come at the expense of the health, education, and well-being of our kids. I will not stand by when the President breaks the law.

“Last week, we sued the Trump Administration over the mass firing of Department of Education workers – another step in its end goal of dismantling the Department from within. And we will continue to take all necessary legal action to protect the rights of students in California and across the nation.”