Dismantling the United States Department of Education (DOE) was one of the many government agencies then-presidential candidate Donald J. Trump promised to shut down during his 2024 election campaign. On March 20, President Trump fulfilled this promise by signing an executive order to disassemble the DOE. 

Trump still needs the approval of Congress on the decision, and will need to receive a supermajority in the U.S. Senate before the agency is officially shut down. For now, Trump’s executive act has ordered the agency to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education.” Disposing of the DOE was one of Trump’s many campaign promises during the 2024 election, and is one the many government agencies the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has dismantled since his inauguration. 

The Department of Education is responsible for federal education policies, allocating funds to public and private education K-12 and oversees $1.63 trillion in federal loans for higher education. The agency has no control over school curriculums, library books or graduation requirements. This responsibility falls in the hands of each district and state, which also fund the majority of school resources in each district. The DOE is instead responsible for enforcing anti-discrimination laws and distributes nearly $15 billion in funds to Title I schools, or schools consisting of primarily low-income families.  

Trump and the Secretary of Education Linda McMahon have both promised that FAFSA and federal student loans will still continue to be an available resource for college students. The federal student loan portfolio will change hands to the Small Business Administration (SBA), sparking concerns over the ability to manage the financial aid of millions of Americans. The SBA is responsible for helping “Americans start, build and grow businesses,” but has been under scrutiny by the current SBA administrator Kolley Loeffler for “financial mismanagement and waste” over the past four years under the Biden administration. 

Other responsibilities of the Department of Education will be distributed among other agencies. One of these being the implementation of the K-12 education laws and rights, which would fall under the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Additionally, all the funding provided by the agency to Title I schools and kids with disabilities, will most likely be distributed to other programs that may not require it. 

Criminal Justice Professor John F. Lopez believes the decision is “shortsighted.” 

“At this level, you’re talking about millions of people,” Lopez said. “At that scale, you can’t just hand over a task to another bureaucratic agency. They don’t have the capacity, don’t have the procedures or the infrastructure in place to handle that task.” 

The SBA announced a cut in their workforce by nearly 3,000 employees.

The agency had already been preparing for the worst prior to Trump’s executive order. On March 11, the DOE reported a cut in 50% of their workforce. Roughly 2,183 employees will now make up the workforce, a drastic cut from the 4,133 that were employed during Trump’s inauguration.

Today’s reduction in force reflects the Department of Education’s commitment to efficiency, accountability and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents and teachers,”,” McMahon said. “It doesn’t hire teachers. It doesn’t establish curriculum. It doesn’t hire school boards or superintendents. It really is to help provide funding so that the states themselves can help with their own programs.”

Republicans have been at odds with the Department of Education ever since then Democratic President Jimmy Carter signed the department into legislation in 1979. Conservatives believe that school curriculums should be decided by the local districts and states, not a uniform federal agency. They also fear the spread of “woke ideologies” considering the agency’s responsibility to implement anti-discrimination laws against race and gender in schools. So far they have been unsuccessful in their attempts to dismantle the agency, with their most recent attempt last year denied by the House of Representatives.