As part of their continued efforts to downsize federal agencies, the Trump administration, along with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), are reportedly looking into dismantling the Department of Education next through executive actions.
Citing unnamed sources familiar with the discussions, The Wall Street Journal reports that officials have ruminated over a particular executive order that would shift some of the agency’s functions to other departments and shut down functions that aren’t specifically written into statute.
Moreover, the order would also request for a legislative proposal abolishing the department to be developed. WSJ’s sources add that President Donald Trump’s advisers are still brainstorming the details of the order and the timing of its release.
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White House sources confirmed to the Daily Beast that the future of the Education Department is being reevaluated.
Throughout his recent reelection campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to abolish the Education Department, opting to leave it to each state to decide its own protocol or program.
In his first day as president, Trump also signed an executive order dubbed “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling” which vows to put an end to “radical, anti-American ideologies” infiltrating the schooling system.
Dozens of employees at the Education Department have also since been placed on administrative leave, according to an ABC News report. Notice letters were distributed on Friday, stating that the leave was not a cause of disciplinary issues but due to Trump’s DEI order and “further guidance” from the Office of Personnel Management, according to a copy obtained by the outlet.
The letter also added that employees will receive their full pay and benefits through the end of the leave, but noted that there is no set time for the leave period.
Additionally, the Education Department also joins a growing list of agencies Musk’s DOGE initiative is looking to eradicate in an effort to downsize the federal bureaucracy, WSJ’s sources noted.
The subject of Education Secretary nominee Linda McMahon’s Senate confirmation hearing, however, has complicated the release of future potential executive orders, WSJ adds. Sources told the outlet that some officials think it best to wait until after McMahon’s hearing to release anything.
McMahon’s hearing has yet to be scheduled as the Senate awaits her ethics paperwork.
An act of Congress is needed to fully dismantle the Education Department. During Trump’s first term, he unsuccessfully tried to merge the education and labor departments, foreshadowing a difficult road as he tries to finish the job with a razor-thin Republican Congressional majority.
Meanwhile, Musk has been targeting several federal agencies after reportedly gaining access to the federal payment system. His eyes are currently publicly set on the U.S. Agency for International Development, which he vowed to shut down over payments he tarred as fraudulent while offering little in the way of evidence.
