Trump Is Dismantling the Department of Education, and It’s a National Emergency

Donald Trump is making good on his long-standing threat: he’s dismantling the Department of Education with the stroke of a pen. Today, he signed an Executive Order titled "Eliminating the Department of Education," setting in motion the systematic dismantling of the federal agency that ensures millions of students have access to quality education.

This is not just another reckless stunt—it’s a full-scale assault on public education as we know it. Trump and his administration are moving quickly to eliminate federal oversight of education, funnel taxpayer dollars into private and religious institutions, and leave public schools to wither under a patchwork of underfunded state systems. The consequences will be devastating, weakening public schools and leaving millions of students without the resources they need to succeed.

  • WHAT IS THE DOE

    • What is the Department of Education (DOE)?

    The Department of Education (DOE) is a federal agency responsible for ensuring equal access to education, enforcing civil rights protections, and coordinating federal funding for public schools, special education, and higher education programs. It administers Pell Grants, Title IX protections, funding for students with disabilities, and anti-discrimination laws that safeguard marginalized students. Without it, Trump’s allies will have free reign to strip away these protections, exacerbating inequities and denying millions of students opportunities to succeed.

  • TRUMP'S EDUCATION SECRETARY

    • Who is Trump’s Education Secretary?

    Trump’s handpicked executioner for this plan is Linda McMahon, a longtime Trump ally with no experience in education policy. McMahon is best known as the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and later served as head of the Small Business Administration (SBA) from 2017 to 2019—a role that had nothing to do with education. Since leaving the SBA, she has been a top political fundraiser for Trump, steering hundreds of millions into his reelection efforts.

    McMahon’s appointment was not about strengthening education but about dismantling the Department from within. In her first speech to DOE employees, she called this the department’s "final mission"—a clear admission that her job is to shut down the agency entirely.

  • TRUMP ELIMINATING DOE

    • How Is Trump Eliminating the Department of Education?

    Trump cannot legally abolish the Department of Education with a simple executive order—that power belongs to Congress. However, his executive order sets in motion a systematic plan to dismantle the agency from within, weakening it beyond recognition and making it easier for a Republican-controlled Congress to finish the job later.

    Here’s how his plan works:

    Declaring a “Final Mission” to Shut It Down

    The leaked memo reveals that Trump's executive order instructs DOE officials to identify all non-statutory functions, programs, and offices and dismantle them immediately.

    • DOE officials have been instructed to identify all non-statutory functions, programs, and offices and dismantle them immediately.
    • Programs not explicitly required by law—including funding streams for public schools, college affordability programs, and civil rights oversight—will be cut first.
    • Employees are being directed to prepare for shutdown, with positions eliminated or reassigned, further weakening federal education oversight.
    • Federal funding is being redirected to state governments and other agencies where it will be underfunded or abandoned.

    Gutting Federal Education Oversight & Protections

    Trump’s order states that the DOE’s role in education must be reduced, and authority must be sent back to the states. This is code for stripping federal oversight of civil rights protections, special education funding, and enforcement of anti-discrimination laws.

    • Trump’s plan to shift education decisions entirely to states means eliminating federal oversight of civil rights protections, special education funding, and enforcement of anti-discrimination laws.
    • Cuts to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) mean students will have nowhere to turn when their rights are violated, allowing discrimination to go unchecked.
    • Title IX enforcement will be gutted, rolling back protections against sexual harassment and assault in schools.
    • Funding for students with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) will be handed over to state politicians, with no guarantees of continued support.
    • Programs that support college access for low-income students—such as TRIO and Upward Bound—will be eliminated, making higher education less accessible.
    • Schools in rural and underserved communities will suffer the most, with fewer resources, fewer teachers, and growing educational disparities.

    Moving Education Programs to Other Agencies to Weaken Them

    Since only Congress can officially abolish a Cabinet-level department, Trump’s strategy is to scatter its functions across different agencies, diluting their effectiveness.

    • Pell Grants & federal student loans → Shifted to the Treasury Department, making it easier for future administrations to defund or privatize student aid.
    • School Nutrition Programs → Transferred to the Department of Agriculture, where they will be vulnerable to cuts.
    • Special Education Oversight (IDEA) → Pushed to state control, risking funding disparities and reduced services.
    • Career and technical education programs will face instability, making it harder for students to access workforce training and apprenticeships.

    This move follows Trump’s previous playbook: When he took office in 2017, he gutted the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the White House by cutting its budget and reducing its staff from 135 to just 35 employees. Now, the same strategy is being deployed to make the DOE a shell of itself before Congress officially eliminates it.

    Forcing Congress to Finish the Job

    While Trump can’t unilaterally abolish the Department of Education, his executive order is a calculated power play to bully Congress into finishing the job for him. By gutting the agency from within, he’s giving Republican lawmakers the political cover to claim that the DOE is already “functionally obsolete” and should be eliminated entirely. 

    Republican-controlled state governments will seize on this moment to lobby Congress to strip away federal education mandates, arguing that Trump has “proven” education works better without them—when in reality, he’s just orchestrating its collapse in order to position school choice and voucher programs as the alternative, despite their track record of draining public school resources while benefiting private and religious institutions. 

    Emboldened by this chaos, congressional Republicans will revive their long-held goal of permanently dismantling the DOE, pushing legislation to erase it from existence, just as they’ve been threatening to do for years. If they succeed, it will be the death of federal education protections as we know them.

  • FOR STUDENTS & FAMILIES

    • What Does This Mean for Students and Families?

    Without the Department of Education, millions of students and families will face immediate consequences. Public schools will struggle to maintain quality instruction as federal funding disappears, leaving states to decide how—or if—they will replace those dollars. The most brutal hit will be on students from lower-income families, those with disabilities, and those attending already underfunded schools. The loss of federal oversight will allow states to slash funding for public education while funneling resources into private and religious institutions, widening the opportunity gap.

    Families relying on federal student aid will see significant changes as Pell Grants and loan programs are shifted to the Treasury Department, making it easier for future administrations to cut them. Meanwhile, schools that serve high-need students—whether in rural areas, urban centers, or suburban districts—will lose essential support programs that provide everything from early childhood education to mental health services.

    Here’s what students and families can expect:

    • Larger class sizes, fewer teachers, and less support for students.
    • Public schools serving lower-income students in rural, suburban, and urban communities will lose needed funding.
    • Students and families who rely on Pell Grants or federal student loans to attend college will face higher costs, fewer choices, and increased dropout rates.
    • Students with disabilities will lose access to essential support in schools and at home.
    • Programs like Upward Bound and TRIO, which help low-income students access higher education, will disappear.
    • Cuts to mental health services, school nurses, and special education will leave students without critical support.
  • FOR EDUCATORS

    • How Will Educators Be Affected?

    Educators will be at the frontlines of this crisis, forced to do more with even fewer resources. Without federal oversight, schools will struggle to retain teachers, hire specialized staff, and provide the necessary support for students with diverse needs. Funding cuts will directly impact classrooms, eliminating crucial programs and making teaching conditions even more challenging. Teachers, school staff, and administrators who have dedicated their careers to public education will face increased workloads, worsening conditions, and, in many cases, the loss of their jobs.

    • Greater burdens and more daily stress with even fewer resources.
    • Fewer trained colleagues and less support for addressing student mental health and behavioral challenges.
    • Cuts to afterschool and summer programs will undo progress on tutoring, chronic absenteeism, and skill-building programs.
    • Massive job losses among public school employees as funding dries 
  • CONGRESS

    • What Can Congress Do?

    While Trump’s executive order is reckless and extreme, it is not the final word. Congress can and must act to stop him.

    Control the Purse Strings: Congress controls the budget. They can refuse to fund any effort to dismantle the DOE, block Trump’s attempts to defund public education, and reject any budget that reallocates education funds to other agencies or eliminates programs.

    Launch Investigations & Legal Challenges: The DOE was created by Congress in 1979, meaning Trump cannot entirely eliminate it without Congressional approval. State attorneys general can sue to prevent Trump from illegally dismantling federal education programs. House Democrats should launch investigations and hold shadow hearings to expose Trump and congressional Republicans’ plans.

    Force Republicans to Go on Record: Many Republican lawmakers are already on the record opposing eliminating the Department of Education. In 2023, 60 House Republicans voted against even a symbolic measure to abolish the agency. Every Republican lawmaker should be forced to answer whether they support this attack on public schools, students, parents, and teachers. They should not be able to show their faces in public without facing a wall of direct questions that force them to pick a side.

    Introduce Emergency Legislation: Congress can pass a bipartisan resolution rejecting Trump’s executive order and affirming that only Congress has the authority to eliminate a Cabinet-level department. Amendments can be added to must-pass bills to prevent federal education funds from being reassigned without Congressional approval. For example, Congresswoman Jahana Hayes introduced the Department of Education Protection Act (H.R.433) in January. Every single member of Congress and Senator should support this legislation.

  • TAKE ACTION

    • What Can You Do?

    Trump is counting on people tuning out, assuming this is just another one of his reckless stunts. We need to prove him wrong. Congress can stop this, but only if the outrage is too loud to ignore. That means lighting up their phone lines, flooding their inboxes, and confronting them in person to demand action.

    📞 CALL and ✉️ EMAIL your members of Congress—and don’t stop at one call. Demand that they publicly commit to blocking any attempt to defund, weaken, or eliminate the Department of Education. If they hedge, call them again. If they say they’re “concerned,” tell them concern isn’t enough—they need to fight.

    CALL AND EMAIL Your Members of Congress

    📝 Ask for a town hall—or show up to one that’s already scheduled. If your member of Congress is hosting an event, be there. Ask them directly: Will you fight Trump’s executive order? Will you block any budget that guts education funding? Will you vote against any bill to dismantle the DOE? Make them go on record.

    Access the town hall toolkit

    📢 Mobilize online and in your community. Share this information everywhere—social media, group chats, and email lists. Talk to teachers, parents, students, and school boards and make sure they know exactly what’s happening.

    🚨 Organize local protests and office visits. Members of Congress care when their offices are swamped with furious constituents. Rally outside their offices, invite local press, and don’t let them ignore this.

    This isn’t just about education—it’s about whether we let Trump and his extremist allies get away with dismantling public institutions to serve their own agenda. If we don’t fight now, it will be too late.

    • CALL YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS

    • EMAIL YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS