US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to shut down the Department of Education, a long-held goal of conservative politicians who argue that individual states, rather than the federal government, should control schools.
Surrounded by schoolchildren sitting at desks in the East Room of the White House, Trump smiled as he held up the order after signing it.
Trump said the order would “begin eliminating the federal Department of Education once and for all.”
“We’re going to shut it down and shut it down as quickly as possible. It’s doing us no good,” Trump said. “We’re going to return education to the states where it belongs.”
The Education Department, created in 1979, cannot be shuttered without the approval of Congress – but Trump’s order will likely have the power to starve it of funds and staff.
The move is one of the most drastic steps yet in the brutal overhaul of the government that Trump is carrying out with the help of tech tycoon Elon Musk and his Department for Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Trump has cast the move as necessary to save money and improve educational standards in the United States, saying they are lagging behind those in Europe and China.
Trump promised on the campaign trail to get rid of the department and devolve its powers to US states, in much the same way that has happened with abortion rights.
Trump’s appointment of McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, to lead the department was widely seen as a sign that its days were numbered.
“The Department of Education will be much smaller than it is today,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters before the signing.
The Heritage Foundation – a right-wing think-tank that has seen many of its “Project 2025” recommendations adopted by Trump – welcomed the move.
“It’s a beautiful day to dismantle the Department of Education,” it said on X.
