President Donald Trump Work is being made to cancel the Ministry of Education’s plan.
Trump is expected to sign an executive order to announce campaign commitments to dissolve the department and claim it was fraught with “radicals, fanatics and Marxists.”
The White House Factbook states that the move will “transform education into a family rather than a bureaucracy.”
The directive comes after the Senate voted to confirm that former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Linda McMahon, who led the agency on March 3.
“The reality of our education system is clear, with the American people elected President Trump making major changes in Washington,” McMahon said in a March 3 memorandum. “Our job is to respect the will of the American people and the president-elect, whose mission is to eliminate the expansion of bureaucracy at the Department of Education – a quick and responsible ultimate task.”
Education Secretary Linda McMahon appeared before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to hold a confirmation hearing on February 13, 2025. (Getty Image)
After reports that Trump plans to sign an executive order, the American Teachers Federation issued a statement pleading Congress to oppose the executive order without “give up responsibilities to all children, students and working families that should have a future full of hope and possibility rather than slash dreams.”
Teachers Union noted that an NPR/PBS News/Marist poll was conducted in February and found that more than 60% of Americans were “strongly opposed” to the agency.
“The Department of Education and its laws that should be enforced and the laws that should be enforced have a primary purpose: to balance the playing field and fill the opportunity gap to help every child in the United States succeed,” the American Teachers Federation said in a statement on March 5. “Try to repeal it. But not all children.”
Despite Trump’s orders, the president still needs Congress to sign and eliminate the agency under Article 2 of the U.S. Constitution. Such a measure would require 60 votes to pass the Senate, with only 53 votes at present.
Nevertheless, Congress still has some appetite to eliminate the department. For example, R-Ky. Rep. Thomas Massie proposed a measure in December 2026 at the Ministry of Education.
R-Ky. Rep. Thomas Massie proposed a measure in December 2026 at the Ministry of Education. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
“Unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. should not be responsible for the intellectual and moral development of our children,” Massi said in a Jan. 31 statement. “The state and local communities are best suited to shape the curriculum that meets the needs of students. Schools should be responsible.”
Trump told reporters on February 4 that even if he nominated McMahon to lead the Education Department, he would eventually hope that she would lose her job.
“What I want to do is let states run schools. I firmly believe in the school choice. But, beyond that, I hope states run schools, and I hope Linda can get herself out of work.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s picture here also marks that the American people can count on Trump’s campaign promise to end the department. (Evan Vucci/AP)
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also said that the American people can rely on Trump to continue the plan to dissolve the department.
“President Trump ran for this promise, and I think the American people can expect him to fulfill it,” Levitt told Stuart Varney on “Varney.” February 4.
Click here to get the Fox News app
According to its website, the Department of Education was established in 1980 to improve the coordination of federal education programs and support state and local school systems. The agency received a $79.1 billion budget in fiscal year 2024.
Trump said at a September 2024 rally that he wanted to reduce the “government education swamp and stop abuse of taxpayers’ money to instill American youth with all kinds of things you don’t want to get our youth hearings.”
Critics of the Ministry of Education also pointed to the “national transcript,” the 2024 National Education Progress Assessment (NAEP), published every two years, was published on January 27. The fourth and eighth graders of the exams found almost eighth grade math scores among eighth graders with 202222222 and dropped by 2 points on both levels.
“In transcript language, D-is is now F,” former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos wrote in a February 5 column for Fox News Digital.
Former Education Secretary Betsy Devos said that when it comes to education, the United States needs a “full reset” to prioritize students with Fox News digital editors. (Jim Watson)
As a result, the U.S. needs a “full reset” to prioritize students, she said. She said this first requires closing the Ministry of Education, which focuses more on diversity, equity and inclusive institutions than the educational foundation.
Meanwhile, the Democrats urged the Education Department to get more information about its future in February because of concerns that the Trump administration would close the agency.
“We will not support and allow this to happen to students, parents, borrowers, educators and communities in the country,” lawmakers wrote in a letter to Acting Education Secretary Denise Carter on February 5. “Congress created the department to ensure that all students in the United States have equal access to high-quality education and that their civil rights are protected. ”
Kayla Bailey of the Associated Press and Fox News contributed to the report. This is a breakthrough story, check out the update.
