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A protester stands near the US Department of Education headquarters after the agency said it would lay off nearly half its staff.
The battle over Department of Education cuts intensifies
The US Department of Education, which Donald Trump has sought to dismantle, is laying off roughly half of its 4,100-strong workforce. Education Secretary Linda McMahoncouched the layoffs in terms of “efficiency,” “accountability,” and deploying resources to serve “students, parents, and teachers.” Critics say otherwise, arguing that cuts are part of a long Republican battle to eliminate federal involvement in education, including its mandate to enforce civil rights protections in schools, and leave the matter to state and local governments – or to private schools and families themselves through homeschooling.
A majority of Americans oppose shuttering the department – and a mere 26% support it. Closing the agency requires an act of Congress, but the Trump administration has the power to limit its resources and, thus, its capacity to operate. The White House, including its Department of Government Efficiency, is already at work doing just that, including freezing nearly a billion dollars in spending last February.
The National Education Association warns that losing the department or gutting its funding will harm low-income communities that rely on it for support while undermining civil rights protections for race, gender, and disability. They warn that 180,000 teaching jobs could go and billions in federal funding, a loss that would hit poor and disabled students particularly hard. Student loans could also be at risk, making college accessibility even tougher than it already is. Cuts will also put national education performance assessments at risk, worrying some that education standards will fall.
On Thursday, 21 Democratic attorneys general sued the Trump administration in response to the layoffs, arguing that they were “illegal and unconstitutional.”
A person walks in front of the Department of Education building in Washington, DC, on Feb. 4, 2025.
GZERO Explains: How did the US Department of Education become so controversial?
When was it established and why? US President Jimmy Carter created the department in 1979 as a Cabinet-level agency. It consolidated educational functions that were previously the responsibility of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (now the Department of Health and Human Services).
The department had a broad mandate, overseeing elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education, vocational training, special education, and civil rights compliance. Carter wanted to centralize programs and ensure equal access to education, which he considered “a fundamental right.”
Why was this significant? Historically, education in the United States has been primarily a state and local responsibility. The US Constitution does not explicitly mention education, and the 10th Amendment reserves powers not delegated to the federal government to the states.
At the same time, however, the 14th Amendment mandates equal protection under the law. In 1954, the case of Brown v. Board of Education gave the 14th Amendment precedence, upholding federal intervention in cases of legal discrimination, such as bussing to combat school segregation.
Eleven years later, as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty, Congress passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. It does not mandate direct federal oversight of schools but offers states funding based on meeting federal requirements, including safeguarding civil rights. These funds were later administered by the Department of Education.
How have Republicans viewed federal involvement in education? In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan wanted to abolish the department, citing concerns about federal overreach. George Bush Sr. took a more activist approach, styling himself as the“Education President,” and leveraging the department’s powers to improve education quality.
What is Trump’s position? President Donald Trump has criticized the department for imposing a race and gender agenda on schools that encourages children to “hate” their country. He has said the federal government should not have control over schools and that it’s staffed with “people that hate our children.”
On Feb. 14, Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights in the Department of Education Craig Trainor issueda directive that all schools receiving federal funding rescind their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies within two weeks or “face a loss of funding.” Trump has also nominated Linda McMahon, cofounder of World Wrestling Entertainment and former head of the Small Business Administration, as Secretary of Education. At her confirmation hearing last week, McMahonstated that her first assignment as Secretary would be to “put herself out of a job” by dismantling the department, shifting control of education to the states and curbing federal oversight.
McMahon also proposed reallocating programs from Education to other federal agencies, such as moving the enforcement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to the Department of Health and Human Services and transferring the Office for Civil Rights to the Justice Department.
How can these changes be made? All these changes would require congressional approval. At her confirmation hearing, McMahonsaid “President Trump understands that we will be working with Congress …We’d like to do this right. We’d like to make sure that we are presenting a plan that I think our senators could get on board with, and our Congress to get on board with.”Linda McMahon testifies before the Senate Health, Education, and Labor Committee during a nomination hearing as Secretary of Education in Washington, DC, USA, on Feb. 13, 2025.
Education Dept’s future in question as McMahon begins confirmation process
McMahon said that she would present a plan for downsizing the department that Republican senators would be able to get on board with. She said that while there were areas of the DOE that could be eliminated, states would still receive federal funding for schools. Project 2025 has laid out a plan for moving the core responsibilities of the DOE – like civil rights enforcement, student loans, and research – to other federal agencies in order to dismantle the department without fully eliminating it, a step that would require congressional approval.
Conservatives have sought to get rid of the DOE since it was created in 1979, arguing that educational decisions should be made by the states alone. The department doesn’t control curriculums or teachers, but it does provide outsized financial support for low-income areas and helps cover the higher costs of educating students with greater needs.
Meanwhile, the Senate officially confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary in a largely party-line vote on Thursday. All Democrats opposed his nomination, while all Republicans supported it, except for Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell. McConnell, who survived polio as a child, broke with his party due to Kennedy’s anti-vaccine stance.