A draft executive order reportedly states that “unaccountable” bureaucrats managing educational programs have “failed our children.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, citing informed sources, President Trump is planning to sign an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education.
This move, anticipated since early February when the White House announced its intentions, aligns with the Trump administration’s goal of streamlining US government agencies to cut wasteful spending.
The draft order, reviewed by the WSJ, directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Education Department” within legal limits. The order is expected to be issued as early as Thursday.
The WSJ quoted the draft order as stating, “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.”
The department is responsible for enforcing education-related laws concerning privacy and civil rights, ensuring equal access to education, and managing federal grants, including those that support children from low-income families.
Project 2025, a conservative plan from the Heritage Foundation for the Trump administration, suggests moving the department’s Office for Civil Rights to the Justice Department and transferring its student loan portfolio to the Treasury Department. It also proposes gradually eliminating funding for schools based on their number of low-income students.
Trump has long been a proponent of abolishing the department, calling it a “big con job.” He previously suggested its elimination during his first term, but Congress took no action.
The order justifies the department’s closure by claiming that “since its founding in 1979, the Department of Education has spent more than $1 trillion without producing virtually any improvement in student reading and mathematics scores.”
Education Secretary McMahon reportedly stated in an email to staff that she plans to “send education back to the states.” She added that Trump and US voters had “tasked us with accomplishing the elimination of the bureaucratic bloat here at the Education Department – a momentous final mission – quickly and responsibly.”
The Trump administration has already implemented layoffs of probationary employees, offered buyouts, and reduced civil rights enforcement efforts. Numerous grants and contracts related to research and teacher quality have also been canceled.
The report indicated that the department’s civil rights division has been used to target anti-Semitism on university campuses, challenge accommodations for transgender students, and examine diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
The Department of Education, with around 4,200 employees, is among the smallest federal agencies. It oversees approximately 100,000 public schools and 34,000 private schools across the US.
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