Trump admin drafting executive order to abolish Department of Education: REPORT

‘One other thing I'll be doing very early in the administration is closing up the Department of Education in Washington D.C.,’ Trump previously vowed.

Trump’s effort already has some Congressional backers, with Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) having introduced legislation in November to abolish the Department.

President Donald Trump is allegedly working on an executive order that would dismantle the Department of Education. 

Trump’s order would curb the Department’s power, though he would also require an act of Congress to abolish it completely–something that he is also working on achieving in tandem with his executive order, CNN reported Tuesday.  

[RELATED: Dept. of Education rolls back DEI under new Trump executive orders]

If the president succeeds, it will mark the fulfillment of his previous campaign promise to shut down the Department. 

In October, 2023 Trump vowed: “One other thing I’ll be doing very early in the administration is closing up the Department of Education in Washington D.C., and sending all education and education work and needs back to the states.”

He added: “We want them to run the education of our children because they’ll do a much better job of it.”

The president has been a consistent critic of the Department, and has criticized the amount of spending that it requires: “In total American society pours more than $1 trillion a year into public education systems but instead of being at the top of the list, we are literally right smack — guess what — at the bottom.”

The Department of Government Efficiency, popularly known as DOGE, which is tasked with reducing the government’s wasteful spending, is also scrutinizing the Department of Education, CNN wrote. 

[RELATED: Trump announces intent to nominate Linda McMahon, advocate of expanding ‘worker education programs,’ as Education Secretary]

Trump’s effort already has some Congressional backers. 

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) drafted legislation in November titled the “Returning Education to Our States Act” that would dismantle the Department of Education. At the time, Rounds said that the Department “has never educated a single student, and it’s long past time to end this bureaucratic Department that causes more harm than good.”