Trump Plans to Close U.S. Ed. Dept.

 President Donald Trump is considering steps to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, with potential executive action coming as early as this month, the USA Today website reports today (Feb. 3, 2025).

A White House official told USA Today that Trump  plans to fulfill a campaign promise by reevaluating the future of the agency. That effort includes defunding it, according to Reuters. On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly pledged to completely close the department, which has been around for decades and administers billions of dollars to schools each year. 

Trump does not have the authority to abolish the agency by executive order. But experts told the USA Today he might still direct the education secretary to come up  with plans to weaken its functions. 

While the Cabinet--level position of education secretary isn't yet filled, that responsibility could fall to the acting secretary, Denise Carter, who led the Federal Student Aid office during the Biden administration. Linda McMahon, a Trump donor whom the president nominated to lead the agency he promised to close, has not secured a date for a confirmation hearing before the Senate because of delays in processing her ethics paperwork. 

The Education Department, which has no say in school curriculum, plays a major role in shielding students from discrimination. It also protects them from predatory colleges and holds higher education institutions accountable for ensuring their degrees provide a good return on investment. 

Just two weeks into the second Trump administration, the agency has already shifted directions politically in a big way. It has scrubbed references to diversity, equity, and inclusion from its websites and begun investigating high schools with gender--neutral bathrooms. It now advocates for the school choice movement and briefly frightened students around the country with the prospect of a massive freeze on federal aid. The administration has frozen a wide range of Biden--era policies, too, including regulations about student loan relief and college oversight.