Did Trump Just Abolish the Department of Education?

On Thursday, President Donald Trump signed a long-awaited executive order that attempts to begin the dismantling of the Department of Education. But since only Congress can officially abolish the department, it’s unclear how much effect Trump’s order will have on the status quo.

“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,” the Executive Order reads. “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.”

The order directs Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to, with “the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law, take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education.” While the directive is vague, actions McMahon has already taken—specifically, firing or buying out half the department’s staff—suggest how she might attempt to grind the department’s functions to a halt.

McMahon is also light on specifics. In a Thursday statement, she assured Americans that “closing the Department does not mean cutting off funds from those who depend on them—we will continue to support K-12 students, students with special needs, college student borrowers, and others who rely on essential programs.” But she also argued that “taxpayers will no longer be burdened with tens of billions of dollars of waste on progressive social experiments and obsolete programs. K-12 and college students will be relieved of the drudgery caused by administrative burdens—and positioned to achieve success in a future career they love.”

While it remains to be seen whether Trump’s order will actually functionally abolish the Department of Education, should Congress summon the will to legally dissolve the department, there’s little reason to worry about the state of K-12 schools. The vast majority of K-12 educational funding comes from state and local sources. Instead, the Department of Education is primarily concerned with running the federal student loan program. (Trump’s order frames the department’s $1.6 trillion loan portfolio as making the department “roughly the size of one of the Nation’s largest banks.”)

“The Department of Education has entrenched the education bureaucracy and sought to convince America that Federal control over education is beneficial,” the order states. “Closing the Department of Education would provide children and their families the opportunity to escape a system that is failing them.”

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