Categories: Politics

Trump moves to abolish Department of Education with new order

FILE - President Donald Trump throws pens used to sign executive orders to the crowd during an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

The White House is drafting an executive order aimed at eliminating the Department of Education, according to sources familiar with the plan.

While President Donald Trump cannot dissolve a federal agency without congressional approval, the move signals his administration’s commitment to shifting education policy away from federal oversight.

A Longstanding Campaign Promise

Trump has repeatedly pledged to shut down the Department of Education, calling for education decisions to be returned to state control. In a September 2023 campaign video, he vowed to close the department and redirect its responsibilities to individual states. He has argued that despite massive investments in public education, U.S. students continue to lag behind in global rankings.

Expanding School Choice Initiatives

Last week, Trump signed an executive order directing the Education Department to issue guidance on how states can expand school choice programs using federal funds. The initiative aligns with a broader Republican effort to increase funding for private and charter school options, particularly for low-income families.

Republican Support for Overhauling Federal Education Policy

Calls to either eliminate or overhaul the Department of Education have gained traction within the GOP. During the Republican primaries, Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley both advocated for dismantling the agency, reflecting a growing push among conservatives to reduce federal involvement in education.

Trump’s broader education agenda includes cutting federal funding for schools promoting certain curricula, launching civil rights investigations into discrimination against Asian American students, implementing new teacher certification standards emphasizing patriotic values, and removing officials he claims have politicized the department.

While the fate of the executive order depends on congressional approval, the proposal reinforces Trump’s commitment to reshaping the federal government’s role in education.

Herbert Bauernebel

Herbert Bauernebel has been reporting from New York since 1999 and currently works for Bild.de, OE24 TV, and US Live. He also runs the news portal AmerikaReport.de. Bauernebel has covered nearly all major US events of the past quarter-century, including 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, Barack Obama’s election, Donald Trump’s surprise victory, the pandemic, last year’s election showdown, as well as natural disasters such as hurricanes and oil spills. He has also reported firsthand on international events, including the Asian tsunami, the Haiti earthquake, and the Fukushima disaster. He lives in Brooklyn with his family and holds degrees in communication and political science from the University of Vienna. Bauernebel is the author of a book about his experiences on 9/11, And the Air Was Full of Ash: 9/11 – The Day That Changed My Life.