Trump to Sign Order Dismantling the Department of Education

The president had promised on the campaign trail to get rid of the agency and place education back with states.

A U.S. Department of Education employee leaves the building with their belonging in Washington on March 20, 2025. Win McNamee/Getty Images

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on March 20 that will facilitate the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education, taking a step toward fulfilling a campaign pledge.

The order, which has been under preparation for weeks, will be signed at a White House event with several Republican governors and state education commissioners in attendance, as confirmed by the White House.

Trump will direct his recently confirmed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take all required steps to prepare for the closure of the Education Department and transfer its authority to the states, according to a White House fact sheet obtained by NTD TV, sister media of The Epoch Times.

According to the fact sheet, the order also aims to ensure that, throughout the process, there is no disruption in the delivery of services, programs, and benefits that Americans rely on.

“The Department of Education will be much smaller than it is today,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on March 20, noting that “when it comes to student loans and Pell Grants, those will still be run out of the Department of Education.”

The order also instructs that any programs or activities receiving remaining Department of Education funds will not promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) or gender ideology.

The Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

McMahon, confirmed by the Senate on March 3, said in her first message to employees—titled “Our Department’s Final Mission”—that her “vision is aligned with the president’s: to send education back to the states.”

She added, “Our job is to respect the will of the American people and the President they elected, who has tasked us with accomplishing the elimination of bureaucratic bloat here at the Department of Education—a momentous final mission—quickly and responsibly.”

The Department of Education employed about 4,200 workers before its recent termination of around 1,300, and the buyout of another 600.

The department’s current form stems from a 1979 law that made it independent by splitting it from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

The federal government’s role in education, according to the White House, has failed students, parents, and teachers.

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores demonstrate that student achievement has not improved, despite more than $3 trillion invested since the Department of Education’s inception in 1979, according to the fact sheet.

Trump promised on the campaign trail to abolish the Department of Education, alleging it is responsible for indoctrinating America’s youth.

On Feb. 4, Trump cited global rankings that have the United States behind many other countries, despite spending the most per student. He suggested at the time that he could work with Congress and teachers’ unions to abolish the agency but also did not rule out issuing an executive order.

Despite the order, Trump needs congressional approval to abolish the department. Such a move requires 60 votes to pass in the Senate.

“This is a historic day for America,” Jonathan Williams, president and chief economist of the American Legislative Exchange Council, told The Epoch Times.

“It’s one that those of us who believe in education, freedom, and parental empowerment have been waiting for decades, and this was really the unfinished business of Ronald Reagan, who wanted to eliminate the big department back in the 1980s,” he said.

Critics reacted to the news, with some calling the order illegal and an abuse of power.

Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) on March 19 wrote on social media platform X, “I will fight your illegal behavior until the cows come home, and I’m pretty sure the hundreds of thousands of people who’ve contacted my office since you started this nonsense are on the same page.”

In a March 12 post on X, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) described Trump’s decision as an “attack on the Department of Education.”

“It’s about selling off our public schools to corporations and private equity companies so schools can be run to make a profit instead of to educate our kids,” he wrote. “It’s about the destruction of our public schools.”

Race Forward, a national organization dedicated to advancing racial equity and justice, also criticized the Trump administration.

“For decades, the Department of Education has played a crucial role in advancing educational opportunities for all children—including Black, Latino, Indigenous, Asian, immigrant, LGBTQ+, and students with disabilities,” Glenn Harris, president of Race Forward, said in a statement.

“Forcing massive layoffs to essentially shut down the Department would reverse many years of progress.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who recently became a target of Trump for being the sole House Republican opponent to a short-term funding bill, spoke out strongly in favor of dismantling the Department of Education.

“Bravo! Congress should support President Trump’s bold agenda by passing my bill, HR 899 to Abolish the Department of Education. We could also use recissions and the budget reconciliation process, which only require 51 votes in the Senate, to back him up,” he wrote on X.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has been a long advocate of transferring education policy from the federal government to the states, is expected to be at the White House event.

Among the other attendees are Republican Govs. Mike Braun of Indiana, Mike DeWine of Ohio, Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, Bill Lee of Tennessee, and possibly Kim Reynolds of Iowa, according to a source familiar with the details of the White House event.