Trump signs executive order to dismantle US Department of Education

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday calling for the dismantling of the US Department of Education.

The move fulfils a promise made by the 47th US President in the wake of his 2024 campaign trail. Trump has derided the agency as wasteful and polluted by liberal ideology.

The order says the Education Secretary – Linda McMahon – will “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.”

It offers no detail on how that work will be carried out or where it will be targeted, though the White House said the agency will retain certain critical functions.

Trump said his administration will close the department beyond its "core necessities," preserving its responsibilities for Title I  – a federal program that supports low income students in receiving a high quality elementary and secondary education – funding, Pell grants and money for children with disabilities.

The White House said earlier on Thursday that the department will continue to manage federal student loans, but the order appears to say the opposite.

It says the Education Department doesn't have the staff to oversee its $1.6 trillion loan portfolio and “must return bank functions to an entity equipped to serve America's students.”

At a signing ceremony, Trump blamed the department for America’s lagging academic performance and said states will do a better job. “It’s doing us no good," he said.

Already, Trump's administration has been gutting the agency. Its workforce is being slashed in half, and there have been deep cuts to the Office for Civil Rights and the Institute of Education Sciences, which gathers data on the nation’s academic progress.

McMahon said she will remove red tape and empower states to decide what’s best for their schools. But she promised to continue essential services and work with states and Congress "to ensure a lawful and orderly transition.”

“The Department of Justice already has a civil rights office, and I think that there is an opportunity to discuss with Attorney General Bondi about locating some of our civil rights work there,” McMahon told reporters after the signing.

The measure was celebrated by groups that have long called for an end to the department. But – advocates for public schools said eliminating the department would children behind in a fundamentally unequal education system.

“This is a dark day for the millions of American children who depend on federal funding for a quality education, including those in poor and rural communities with parents who voted for Trump,” said Derrick Johnson, NAACP President.

Dismantling the agency is most likely impossible without an act of Congress, which created the department in 1979. Republicans said they will introduce legislation to achieve that, while Democrats have quickly lined up to oppose the idea.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the order a “tyrannical power grab” and “one of the most destructive and devastating steps Donald Trump has ever taken”, vowing to fight the order vehemently.