Massie reintroduces one-sentence bill to abolish Department of Education

A bill to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education has been reintroduced in the House of Representatives.

On Friday, Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky introduced H.R. 899, 'to Terminate the Department of Education.'

A bill to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education has been reintroduced in the House of Representatives. 

On Friday, Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky introduced H.R. 899, “to Terminate the Department of Education.”

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“The Department of Education shall be terminated on December 31, 2026,” the entire legislation reads.

”Unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. should not be in charge of our children’s intellectual and moral development,” Massie says in a press release

”Parents have the right to choose the most appropriate educational opportunity for their children, including home school, public school, or private school,” Massie adds.

The bill has 27 co-sponsors, including Andy Biggs, Lauren Boebert, Chip Roy, and Marjorie Taylor Greene.

In his press release, the congressman invoked President Reagan to justify abolishing the department as a means to save taxpayer dollars and provide greater autonomy to local communities over education. 

“[W]e cannot only reduce the budget but ensure that local needs and preferences, rather than the wishes of Washington, determine the education of our children,” Massie’s press release quotes Reagan.

Massie first proposed the same legislation in February 2017.

[RELATED: Trump doubles down on plan to return American education ‘back to the states’]

The Trump administration has acknowledged the decline of American education. On Wednesday, the department released a statement in response to the latest results from the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress.

“Today’s NAEP results reveal a heartbreaking reality for American students and confirm our worst fears: not only did most students not recover from pandemic-related learning loss, but those students who were the most behind and needed the most support have fallen even further behind,” the department’s statement reads. “Despite the billions of dollars that the federal government invests in K-12 education annually, and the approximately $190 billion in federal pandemic funds, our education system continues to fail students across the nation.” 

“We must do better for our students,” the statement adds. “The Trump Administration is committed to reorienting our education system to fully empower states, to prioritize meaningful learning, and provide universal access to high-quality instruction.”

Campus Reform has contacted the office of Thomas Massie and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.