President Trump is considering executive action that would dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, ending some programs and shifting some to other parts of government, according to multiple sources familiar with the plans. The sources said such a move was not imminent.
Slashing the department is in line with Mr. Trump and DOGE chief Elon Musk‘s goal of shrinking the federal bureaucracy and workforce.
The Wall Street Journal was first to report the news.
The Education Department is responsible for distributing federal financial aid for education, and for collecting and disseminating data and research related to schools. The department is also tasked with enforcing non-discrimination policies in schools. Its funds account for less than 10% of the nation’s public school funding, which is primarily driven by state and local taxes.
Generally, it supports federal college loan programs and Pell Grants, and also vocational training.
It also has programs to help economically disadvantaged children and those with special needs. Officially, the department’s role is to foster student achievement and help keep America competitive on the global stage by ensuring equal access to the education system.
Some programs administered by the department were established through legislation. It’s not clear what would happen to them or whether they would be shifted to the purview of other federal agencies.
Eliminating the department outright would require congressional approval.
Last Wednesday, Mr. Trump signed an executive order prioritizing federal funding for school choice programs.
Mr. Trump in 2023 said, “One other thing I’ll be doing very early in the administration is closing up the Department of Education in Washington, D.C., and sending all education and education work and needs back to the states.”
“We want them to run the education of our children because they’ll do a much better job of it,” he added.
Linda McMahon is Mr. Trump’s nominee to be education secretary. McMahon, a former World Wrestling Entertainment executive who served on the Connecticut State Board of Education, has yet to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Project 2025, a collection of proposals from the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, called for transferring some functions — including the administration of student loans, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Title I funding —- to other departments, such as the Treasury, Justice, and Health and Human Services Departments.
Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota sponsored the Returning Education to Our States Act, legislation that would abolish the department and move some loan programs to the Department of the Treasury.
President Jimmy Carter signed a law creating the Education Department in 1979.
