United States President Donald Trump is set to sign a long-anticipated executive order today (Thursday) that aims to shut down the Department of Education, acting on a key campaign pledge, according to a White House summary seen by Reuters.
Even before it was signed, the order was being challenged by a group of Democratic state attorneys general, who filed a lawsuit seeking to block Trump from dismantling the department and halt the layoffs of nearly half of its staff announced last week.
The order directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon 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.”
It mandates that any programs or activities receiving remaining Department of Education funds should not “advance DEI or gender ideology,” according to the White House summary.
Last month Trump said he wanted the department to be closed immediately, but acknowledged he would need buy-ins from Congress and teachers’ unions.
“Federal government control of education has failed students, parents and teachers,” the White House said in its summary.
It said that the department had spent over $3 trillion since its creation in 1979 without improving student achievement as measured by standardised test scores.
Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk have attempted to shut down government programs and institutions such as the US Agency for International Development (USAID) without congressional approval, but abolishing the Department of Education would be Trump’s first bid to shut down a cabinet-level agency.
