What to expect after Trump's executive order to dismantle the Department of Education
With questions about the Department of Education's future still unanswered, learn more about could happen if the agency is dismantled.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday in an effort to “begin eliminating the federal Department of Education.” With the stroke of his pen, he officially set in motion a plan to shutter the 46-year-old agency, as he said, “once and for all.”
But the order stops short of immediately closing the department, which cannot be done without congressional approval. Rather, according to the text of the order released by the White House, it directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “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.”
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At the signing, Trump said federal Pell grants (a common type of federal undergraduate financial aid), Title I funding and resources and funding for children with disabilities would be “preserved in full and redistributed to various other agencies and departments.”
“But beyond these core necessities, my administration will take all lawful steps to shut down the department,” he said, adding that he would do so “as quickly as possible.”
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