What is the next step in Trump's destruction of the Department of Education? The procedure for
Congress must approve the process of dismantling the department, which could be challenging.
In an attempt to fulfill a contentious campaign pledge, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to destroy the nation's Department of Education.
Conservatives who contend that education should continue to be governed by the state and that the department is tainted by liberal ideologies have long denigrated it.
Constitutional objections prevent Trump's order from being implemented smoothly. All we know is this:
The Department of Education: What does it do?
The Department, a cabinet-level organization, oversees US national education policy. In response to former Democratic President Jimmy Carter, Congress created it in 1979.
government education laws pertaining to civil rights and nondiscrimination are enforced by the agency, which also gathers statistics on the US educational system, finds problems in the system, and disburses government loans and help for education, notably the Pell Grant, which aids low-income students.
Trump's administration had been increasing attrition to the agency even prior to his signing of the executive order on Thursday.
There were 4,133 employees in the department prior to Trump's inauguration. With 600 employees voluntarily resigning and the remaining staff members being placed on administrative leave, the staff has almost halved since his inauguration. The department employed about 2,183 people as of March 11.
The layoffs coincide with larger governmental workforce reductions spearheaded by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
What is stated in the executive order?
"Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities" is the title of the directive. It calls on long-term Trump friend, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, to facilitate the department’s liquidation.
Closing the department would allow children and their parents to leave "a system that is failing them," according to the decree.
