President Trump has made it clear that he wants to abolish the Department of Education. According to several reports the Trump administration is drafting an executive order that could lead to its ultimate demise.
The proposed order is expected to call for yet to be confirmed Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to submit a proposal that would dismantle the department.
"We spend more per pupil than any other country in the world, and we're ranked at the bottom of the list. We're ranked very badly, and what I want to do is let the states run schools. I believe strongly in school choice, but in addition to that, I want the states to run schools, and I want Linda to put herself out of a job,” Trump said.
The order would also call on Congress to push legislation eliminating it.
Gary Bauer is Chairman of the Campaign for Working Families, who served in Education under President Ronald Reagan.
"We tried to abolish the department. We could not get the votes in the House or Senate to do it. I don't believe you can abolish a government Cabinet Office without a vote from Congress."
Other media outlets agree, NewsNation among them.
That means Trump must have Congress with him on the issue, and there is some support.
Legislation in the works right now
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota) introduced a bill to abolish the Department last November, days after Trump’s landslide victory over Kamala Harris.
Democrats will vigorously fight the Department’s potential closure.
Many of them were denied entrance to a closed Department of Education Friday even after repeatedly identifying themselves as members of Congress to a mostly-silent security guard.
“The children deserve to have us fight for them,” one said.
Trump’s best approach to dealing with the Department of Education might not be to eliminate it but to change it, Bauer says.
He could do that by moving some programs around and lessening its authority over time.
"Transfer some of the programs in the Department of Education back to the agencies they were in before the Department was created. I've said for years that if we want the Liberals to join us in making the Department go away, the best way to do that is to turn the Department of Education into a conservative Department that's promoting values, educational choice, all these other issues that we believe in."
