President Trump will move to begin dismantling the Department of Education any day now, White House sources said, though political and policy hurdles stand in his way.
The order, which could be issued as early as Friday, would direct Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “facilitate the closure of the Education Department” by using “the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.”
“The experiment of controlling American education through Federal programs and dollars — and the unaccountable bureaucrats those programs and dollars support — has failed our children, our teachers and our families,” a draft of the order reads, though it could change by the time Mr. Trump signs it.
Mr. Trump told reporters Thursday that he wants to sign the order soon and that the goal is to return control of schools to the states.
“If they run their own education, they’re going to do a lot better than somebody sitting in Washington, D.C., that couldn’t care less about the pupils out in the Midwest,” Mr. Trump said.
The president acknowledged that some states “won’t be perfect” but estimated that 40 states would be “great.” He said Iowa and Indiana manage state education systems well.
Democrats said closing the Department of Education would transform schools into for-profit enterprises that only the wealthy could afford. They accused Mr. Trump of being out of touch with working-class Americans who are priced out of private schools.
“The billionaires that are in charge of our government right now send their kids to elite private schools, and if every public school disappears in this country, they will still be able to get their kids an education,” said Sen. Christopher Murphy, Connecticut Democrat. “If the Department of Education closes, it’s going to hurt millions of families in this country. It will enable the theft of resources of millions of Americans to pad the pockets of billionaires.”
Mr. Trump has made no secret of his disdain for the Education Department and his desire to shutter it. On the campaign trail, he argued that the agency has become too focused on promoting leftist social issues and has been controlling policy that is best left to state and local authorities.
Last month, the administration gutted the Institute of Education Sciences, which gathers data on student achievement; canceled grants; laid off dozens of newer, probationary employees; and put dozens more on paid leave.
The Education Department has about 4,500 employees, making it one of the smallest Cabinet-level agencies. It is responsible for distributing federal financial aid and collecting and disseminating data related to schools.
It also enforces nondiscrimination policies in schools. The money it distributes to schools accounts for less than 10% of the nation’s public school funding, which is driven primarily by state and local taxes.
According to the Department of Government Efficiency website, the Education Department accounts for 0.31% of the federal government’s salaries.
A president does not have the authority to close a Cabinet-level department. That would require a 60-vote majority in the Senate, which Mr. Trump is unlikely to achieve, given the Republicans’ slim control of the upper chamber. Congress has codified many of the Education Department’s primary activities, such as administering student loans and providing grants to students with disabilities.
Instead, the order would direct Ms. McMahon, sworn in on Monday, to take measures within the Education Department to reduce its responsibilities.
Ms. McMahon signaled the move Monday night in an email to staffers. She said she would “send education back to the states.”
She said voters have “tasked us with accomplishing the elimination of the bureaucratic bloat here at the Education — a momentous final mission — quickly and responsibly.”
Although the order doesn’t spell out which steps Ms. McMahon and her team will take to unwind the department, the plan likely includes layoffs, hiring freezes, budget cuts, shuttering certain offices and moving some functions to other agencies.
Project 2025, a governing blueprint proposed by the conservative Heritage Foundation, offers some ideas for dismantling the Education Department. It suggests shuffling its programs to other agencies.
The Treasury Department would assume control of student loans, the Justice Department would handle investigations into education discrimination, and the Labor Department would oversee the compilation of education data.
“They will be able to do the same things the Department of Education does, and there is good reason to believe they do it better,” Neal McCluskey, director of the Center for Educational Freedom at the libertarian Cato Institute, said of the other agencies. “The people who work at the Treasury Department are finance people, not education people, so it makes sense they handle the student loans.”
Michelle Dimino, director of the education program at Third Way, a liberal advocacy group, warned that transferring the Education Department’s core to other agencies could threaten students who rely on government loans and imperil schools that rely on federal funds to lower the cost of education.
“If we see those types of shifts parceled out to other agencies, that is a process that needs to be done incredibly delicately,” she said. “Any disruption to those services can be financially harmful to student loan borrowers.”
Republicans’ goal of abolishing the Education Department has been discussed since President Carter created the agency in 1979.
Roughly one year after its formation, President Reagan campaigned on a promise to shutter the agency. Once in office, he could not follow through because of a lack of support in Congress.
Mr. Trump’s push represents the most serious threat to the agency since its creation. It comes at a time of deep dissatisfaction with the agency, especially among voters on the right.
Voters expressed frustration with the Education Department’s efforts to forgive student loans, the bungled rollout of the federal financial aid application and the addition of protections that allowed biological males to compete in sports alongside females.
Mr. McCluskey said that even if Mr. Trump cannot abolish the Education Department, the executive order will bring the idea out of the fringes of conservative thought into the public mainstream.
“The order is getting more people talking more about it and making it more of a mainstream discussion or position to take, and all of that is very valuable because we need to have a conversation about whether we need to have a Department of Education and whether we are getting anything of value out of it,” he said.
Ms. Dimino cited polls showing that eliminating the Education Department is unpopular with many Americans. She said its functions, such as doling out student loans and providing grants to low-income students, could have a greater impact on people’s everyday lives than other cuts to federal agencies proposed by the Department of Government Efficiency, a Trump administration cost-cutting advisory board.
“The programs it manages are really important, and making sure those programs operate effectively is crucial. Pell grants, student loans — these are things that are very intricately entwined in students’ lives. It is more tangible to Americans than a lot of other DOGE actions,” she said.
An NPR/PBS News/Marist poll showed that 63% of respondents “strongly oppose” closing the Education Department.
Mr. Trump didn’t push to close the Education Department during his first term. Instead, he proposed deep cuts to its budget. Lawmakers rejected those cuts and increased the department’s funding.
In 2023, House conservatives pushed an amendment to abolish the department, but 60 Republicans joined Democrats to defeat the measure.
