Trump has criticized the Education Department as wasteful and polluted by liberal ideology. However, completing its dismantling is most likely impossible without an act of Congress, which created the department in 1979. And the White House says the department would not close completely right now.
Speaking on Thursday, the President said: "Everybody knows it's right, and we have to get our children educated. We're not doing well with the world of education in this country, and we haven't for a long time."
A fact sheet on the order says the directive aims to "turn over education to families instead of bureaucracies." It also instructs Linda McMahon, Trump's education secretary, to "take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the States, while continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely."
Earlier in the day, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt explained the order would not shut down the DOE entirely, but would only "greatly minimize it." For example, the department is to retain certain critical functions, like managing federal student loans and Pell grants.
"But the great responsibility of educating our nation's students will return to the states," she added.
Supporters of the plan for education welcomed the order, while advocates for public schools said eliminating the department would leave children behind.
The order is expected to generate lawsuits challenging the executive order. Democrats said the order will be fought in the courts and in Congress, and they urged Republicans to join them in opposition.
