Trump Is Dismantling The Education Department What S At Stake

Leo Migdal

-Dec 3, 2025, 5:06 AM

trump is dismantling the education department what s at stake

On the Tuesday, December 2, 2025 episode of The Excerpt podcast: Trump’s latest Education Department moves target some of the agency's most important programs. From Title I to special education to student aid, we break down what’s moving, what’s staying and what the changes mean for millions of students. Zach Schermele joins USA TODAY's The Excerpt to unpack it all. Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here President Donald Trump's quest to dismantle the Department of Education went into high gear late last month, with six interagency agreements that redistributed longstanding functional areas of the department. Well, Congress finally caved in and let Trump abolish the ED. Hello and welcome to USA Today's The Excerpt. I'm Dana Taylor. Today is Tuesday, December 2nd, 2025.

Here to help me dig into all of the changes at the Education Department, now joined by USA Today Congress reporter, Zach Schermele. Thanks so much for coming back, Zach. While only Congress can completely act as a federal agency, the Supreme Court has allowed the White House to move forward for now with mass education department layoffs. Walk me through the latest changes. President Donald Trump signs an executive order calling for the dismantling of the Education Department. Completely closing it is most likely impossible without an act of Congress.

The White House says the department will retain some critical functions. President Donald Trump holds up a signed executive order at an education event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) President Donald Trump, left, holds up a signed executive order as young people hold up copies of the executive order they signed at an education event in the East Room of the White House... (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) President Donald Trump’s order calling for the dismantling of the U.S.

Education Department has complex implications. The Republican president has argued the federal office hasn’t improved student outcomes and is unnecessary in a country where states and local districts primarily control education from funding to hiring and curriculum. With the Trump administration forging ahead on the president’s pledge to gut the federal agency, states and schools from elementary through postsecondary education are bracing for disruptions to funding and programs. Photo credit: U.S. Department of Education/Flickr/CC BY 4.0 President Donald Trump’s pledge to dismantle the U.S.

Department of Education took another big leap forward on Nov. 18, with the announcement that the bulk of existing programs – from K-12 through postsecondary – would be parceled out to other federal agencies. The move is part of the Trump administration’s plan to “return education to the states,” a phrase The Washington Post’s Laura Meckler (among others) argues is a misnomer. Take a look at Education Week’s handy guide to discover where existing programs are being moved (K-12 and college programs to the Department of Labor, for example). The Hechinger Report is also tracking President Trump’s orders on education issues more broadly. The Guardian has reported on the difficulty of working at the education department and the low morale there in the wake of this and other efforts to dismantle the department this year.

There’s been no announcement yet on where special education programs would land, if they’re moved at all. See the Education Writers Association’s Q&A with the executive director of the nonprofit advocacy organization Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) for more on the special education ramifications. U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon has said she wants to "peel back the layers of federal bureaucracy." Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption The Trump administration unveiled a sweeping plan Tuesday to sidestep Congress and outsource large pieces of the U.S. Department of Education, telling lawmakers and staff that it would shift work dedicated to, among other things, elementary and secondary education, postsecondary education and Indian education to other federal agencies.

All three of those offices were originally placed at the department by Congress when it created the agency in 1979, and these moves are being made without Congress' consent. According to two people who were briefed on the plan by the Trump administration, and who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, the administration has forged six new agreements between the... For example, under these new agreements, much of the work of the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, which includes managing Title I, a key federal funding stream that helps schools support low-income students,... Department of Labor, as would much of the work of the Office of Postsecondary Education. Sign up for Chalkbeat’s free weekly newsletter to keep up with how education is changing across the U.S. The U.S.

Education Department is moving management of K-12 and higher education to the Department of Labor and parceling out other job duties to other federal agencies in the most sweeping effort so far to dismantle... The Education Department announced the changes Tuesday, describing them as fulfilling President Donald Trump’s promise to “return education to the states.” Management of both the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Office of Postsecondary Education will be moved to the Department of Labor, which oversees workforce development programs and protects workers’ rights, among... The Office of Elementary and Secondary Education oversees major federal funding streams such as Title I, which provides $18 billion a year for high-poverty schools, as well as teacher training programs, support for English... The president aims to fulfill his promise to get rid of the agency As the Trump administration sets its plans in motion to reallocate the responsibilities of the Education Department, the initial steps are illuminating how President Donald Trump could fulfill his campaign pledge to bulldoze the...

Education Secretary Linda McMahon has launched a public campaign to argue that states and other federal agencies could better handle the department’s work. American schools are funded mainly by state and local money. Still, the Education Department “serves as a conduit for billions of dollars of federal aid going to state and local education agencies,” said The Associated Press. Agency officials said the money will continue to be distributed as outlined by Congress, but under the newly signed agreements, much of it will come from a different agency. The Department of Labor will take over some of the largest federal funding sources for schools and colleges, including Title I money for schools serving low-income communities. Adult education programs were already moved to Labor in June.

Another agreement puts the Health and Human Services in charge of a grant program for parents attending college. The State Department will oversee foreign language programs, and the Interior will take on programs supporting Native American education. Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives. The Department of Education began sending notices to employees that it plans to resume shrinking the department after the Supreme Court said on Monday that President Donald Trump could carry out mass layoffs. A lower court ruling had indefinitely paused the president’s plans, though the Supreme Court’s decision puts that ruling on hold while the legal challenge plays out.

Trump has attempted to eliminate the agency since the start of his second term to make good on promises he made on the campaign trail. The agency’s dismantling could cause effects across the country for Americans and their schools. The Education Department, created during the Carter administration, is tasked with distributing federal funds to schools, managing federal aid for college students and ensuring compliance with civil rights laws — including ensuring schools accommodate... Most public-school policies are a function of state government. Federal federal funding programs for K-12 schools that help support the education of students from low-income families and children with disabilities predated the creation of the agency.

Trump Is Dismantling The Education Department What S At Stake

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