President Donald Trump is signing a highly anticipated executive order today (Thursday) to dismantle the Department of Education, fulfilling a key campaign promise.
Even before its signing, the order has already faced legal opposition. A coalition of Democratic state attorneys general filed a lawsuit seeking to block the department’s closure and prevent the layoffs of nearly half its staff, which were announced last week.
The NAACP strongly condemned the expected order, calling it unconstitutional.
“This is a dark day for millions of American children who rely on federal funding for a quality education, including those in poor and rural communities whose parents voted for Trump,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement.
Trump, alongside billionaire adviser Elon Musk, has previously attempted to dismantle federal programs such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) without congressional approval. However, dissolving the Department of Education would mark his first attempt to shut down a cabinet-level agency.
Despite the order, Trump cannot unilaterally abolish the department without congressional approval. While Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate majority, eliminating a federal agency would require 60 votes—meaning at least seven Democrats would need to support the measure. So far, Senate Democrats have shown no willingness to back the move.
“Trump and Musk are taking a wrecking ball to the Department of Education and firing half its staff,” said Democratic Senator Patty Murray, pledging to fight what she called their “slash-and-burn campaign.”
The executive order directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take all necessary steps to facilitate the department’s closure and transfer education authority to the states while ensuring the continued delivery of essential services. Additionally, it stipulates that remaining Department of Education funds must not support diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives or gender ideology, per the White House summary.
Trump has long advocated for eliminating the department, previously calling it “a big con job.” During his first term, he proposed shutting it down, but Congress did not act.
While pushing for immediate closure last month, Trump acknowledged that he would need congressional cooperation and support from teachers’ unions.
“The federal government’s control of education has failed students, parents, and teachers,” the White House statement declared, arguing that the department has spent over $3 trillion since its establishment in 1979 without meaningful improvements in student achievement.
Before the department’s creation, education was managed under the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, which operated from 1953 to 1979.
Speaking on SiriusXM’s “The David Webb Show” earlier this week, McMahon emphasized that the administration’s goal is to promote educational innovation and encourage best practices at the state level.
