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    Report: Trump To Sign Order To Shutter Dept. Of Education

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    President Donald Trump signs Executive Orders, Monday, February 10, 2025, in the Oval Office. (Official White House photo by Abe McNatt)

    An administration official told NewsNation White House correspondent Libbey Dean that Trump will sign an executive order Thursday afternoon that directs McMahon to begin dissolving the Education Department

    The executive order, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, has been in the works since before Trump was sworn into office in January.

    The draft of the order recognizes that the president does not have the authority to abolish the department and that it would likely take 60 votes in the Senate, where Republicans hold only 53 seats, The Washington Post reported.

    But it directs McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Education Department” based on “the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law,” according to the Journal.

    “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 draft order reportedly reads.

    The official White House schedule was updated Thursday morning with Trump signing unspecified executive orders at 2 p.m. EST.

    The Post also noted that the draft was labeled “pre-decisional,” citing a personal familiar with the matter who cautioned that its details could change before it is final.

    McMahon was confirmed Monday to lead the Education Department. That evening, she foreshadowed the executive order in a letter in which she described her goal of making education a matter for the states.

    “My vision is aligned with the President’s: to send education back to the states and empower all parents to choose an excellent education for their children,” she wrote. “As a mother and grandmother, I know there is nobody more qualified than a parent to make educational decisions for their children.”

    This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

    Lawmakers Swiftly Denied While Attempting To Access Dept. Of Education

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    7
    Image via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Thirty House Democrats on Friday morning attempted to enter the Department of Education building in Washington, D.C., to meet with acting Education Secretary Denise L. Carter, but they were stopped by security.

    A man who said he was a federal employee did not make it clear why the lawmakers had not been allowed into the building.

    Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) asked the man whether he was doing so of his own volition or had been ordered to block the door, to which the man responded that he was doing his job. 

    Fox News reports:

    As they surrounded the man in front of the door, lawmakers repeatedly insisted that they had the right to enter the building and slammed the Trump administration over a “lack of transparency.”

    President Donald Trump and Republicans have advocated for shutting down the Department of Education, saying that the states are better equipped to handle education. Trump on Tuesday said that if Linda McMahon, his pick for education secretary, is confirmed, she should work to “put herself out of a job.”

    Ninety-six members of Congress, led by Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) wrote a letter to Carter requesting a meeting. The department acknowledged receipt of the letter but did not set up a meeting.

    An aide made it inside the building and explained to security that lawmakers were there. Members then tried to go inside the building, and at that point, the doors were locked, Fox News is told.

    Former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who served in Trump’s first administration, slammed the department and called for a revamp in an opinion piece.

    “A complete reset begins with ending the failed experiment resident in the Department of Education. The bureaucrats have focused on mandating DEI, when students needed the focus to be on ABC and 123,” DeVos wrote. “President Trump and Congress should take their corrosive power away and instead block grant all necessary education funding directly to the states.”

    “This reset must also ensure that no child in America is trapped in a failing school,” DeVos added.

    Elon Musk, whose Department of Government Efficiency is expected to recommend major spending cuts, became the subject of Democrats’ ire as lawmakers protested against him on Capitol Hill this past Tuesday.

    In response to lawmakers’ fears, Trump said that Musk “can’t do and won’t do anything without our approval.”

    Report: Trump Drafting Executive Order To Dismantle Dept. Of Education

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    5

    Top Trump officials are reportedly circulating a draft executive order to begin the process of dismantling the Department of Education.

    The draft order would be a step toward fulfilling a key campaign promise President Donald Trump made to return education policy back to the states. The order would not direct the dismantling of the department, but request a plan to do so from the Education secretary, according to ABC News.

    The order would also call on Congress to pass legislation striking the department from federal statute. Trump may sign the order soon, according to ABC News, however, no set date has been determined.

    The order, if signed, would likely be carried out by Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Education, Linda McMahon. Some officials in the Trump administration are pushing for the president to hold off signing the order until after McMahon’s confirmation, according to The Wall Street Journal, presumably to avoid hindering her nomination in the Senate.

    McMahon’s nomination is currently paused in the Senate as lawmakers wait to receive ethics paperwork. Her nomination hearing has not been scheduled.

    The Department of Government Efficiency, the government cost-cutting crusade led by Elon Musk, has begun to look at ways of trimming the Department of Education through executive action, according to The Washington Post.

    Trump could order cuts to certain areas of the Department of Education and roll back or stop some controversial actions the department took under former President Joe Biden, such as mass forgiveness of student loans. Deconstructing the department would take an act of Congress, however.

    This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

    © Great America News Desk 2022