Trump Signs Order to Dismantle Department of Education

The order says the education secretary shall facilitate the closure of the department.

President Donald Trump holds an executive order dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, in Washington on March 20, 2025. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump on March 20 signed an executive order that facilitates the dismantling of the Department of Education.

“We’re going to shut it down and shut it down as quickly as possible,” Trump said before signing the order.

The order states in part that “The Secretary of Education shall, to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law, take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities while ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”

Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement after Trump signed the order that funds for special needs students, those who have federal student loans, and others would not be cut off.

“We’re going to follow the law and eliminate the bureaucracy responsibly by working with Congress and state leaders to ensure a lawful and orderly transition,” she said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters earlier Thursday that the Department of Education would continue to administer key programs such as Pell grants.

However, Trump said that critical components of the department such as Pell grants and resources for children with disabilities would be “preserved in full” but shifted to other agencies, while the rest of the department would be abolished.

The Department of Education was split by a federal law from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in 1979, becoming an independent agency.

It helps promote education of students and administers student loans and other programs.

In discussing eliminating the agency, Trump and the White House have pointed to subpar test scores in the United States and in global rankings when compared to other countries, including other nations that are also part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

“Despite per-pupil spending having increased by more than 245% over that period, there has been virtually no measurable improvement in student achievement,” the White House said in a statement.

“Math and reading scores for 13-year-olds are at the lowest level in decades,” the statement read, adding that many students are not proficient in math and reading. “U.S. students rank 28 out of 37 OECD member countries in math.”

Jonathan Williams, president and chief economist of the American Legislative Exchange Council, told The Epoch Times that dismantling the Department of Education would complete “the unfinished business of Ronald Reagan, who wanted to eliminate the department back in the 1980s.”

Reagan campaigned for the abolition of the Department of Education during his presidential run in 1980, but was unable to do so due to a lack of congressional support.

Williams, who attended a round table discussion at the White House about the Department of Education in January, argued that both red and blue states want more autonomy when it comes to education policy.

“The Department of Education has been around now for 50 years and has not directly educated a single child in its existence. It has been used by bureaucrats to stymie much of the progress that has been made at the state level on education, freedom, and empowering parents,” he said.

Others criticized the move, including teachers unions.

National Education Association President Becky Pringlen said in a statement that, if successful, the action would “hurt all students by sending class sizes soaring, cutting job training programs, making higher education more expensive and out of reach for middle class families, taking away special education services for students with disabilities, and gutting student civil rights protections.”

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, issued a brief statement: “See you in court.”

While speaking with reporters after the signing ceremony, McMahon said she had not yet spoken with Weingarten regarding her legal challenge, but added that she disagrees with the teacher union president’s assertions that Trump wants to “take education away from children.”

“He wants to get those dollars, even more dollars, back to the states, without the bureaucracy of Washington. So that’s our plan,” McMahon said.

The Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights, which has recently opened investigations into anti-Semitism and alleged Title IX violations at multiple schools, may continue under the Department of Justice, McMahon added.

“The executive order did not specify what happens with any of the departments within Education. So we are looking at where best those departments can be located,” she said.

A reporter asked the secretary what would happen to all of the agency’s employees after the dismantling.

McMahon said last week that the department had already terminated nearly half of its workers, giving them three months of full pay and benefits.

“After that, under the rules of civil service, they also will get a severance package,” she said, adding that the administration was trying to provide an off-ramp for the Education Department’s employees. She did not say what would happen to the remaining workers.

Regarding the agency’s funding to the states, McMahon said the president’s goal is to provide the money “without any strings attached.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told reporters after the signing ceremony that his state would be providing more funding for public schools.

“First, student funding will be at an all-time high. We’re very meaningfully increasing teacher pay for teachers in large school districts. There’ll be a teacher pay raise of up to $5,500 a year,” Abbott said. “For teachers in rural Texas, which is [independent school districts] of 5,000 students or less, it’ll be a teacher pay raise of up to $10,000 more per teacher.”

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry told The Epoch Times on Thursday that he is eager to see the federal funding sent to the states as block grants “so we can utilize it in the best way possible so there’s no more strings” attached.

“I’m willing to give the president an opportunity to give it to us and see how we can change the trajectory of education in this country and in our states,” Landry said.

Despite the order, Trump needs congressional approval to abolish the department.

“It’s going to be a challenge when you need 60 votes in the Senate,” Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), who was at the White House signing ceremony, told The Epoch Times.

She also said that the initiative has widespread support across the country and that parents deeply care about their children’s education. Foxx also commended the executive order, saying that this is the first time a U.S. president has taken such action.