Donald Trump Signs Executive Order To Dismantle Education Department, Advancing Campaign Promise

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday aimed at eliminating the US Education Department, advancing a campaign promise to eliminate an agency that's been a longtime target of conservatives.

Trump has derided the Education Department as wasteful and polluted by liberal ideology. However, completing its dismantling is most likely impossible without an act of Congress, which created the department in 1979.

Donald Trump previously proposed shutting down the Education Department during his first term, but Congress did not act on the suggestion.

The department, responsible for overseeing various educational programs, employs over 4,200 people and had a budget of $251 billion in the most recent year, according to a Reuters report.

Trump had also indicated his intent to close the department through an executive order, though he acknowledged that such a move would require backing from Congress and teachers' unions.

Closing the department could have significant consequences, potentially disrupting billions of dollars in funding for K-12 schools and college tuition assistance programs, the report noted.

The executive order to eliminate the Education Department is part of Trump's broader push for sweeping changes in U.S. government operations. He has focused on reducing the federal workforce, cutting costs, and urging government employees to return to in-office work or resign. Additionally, he has targeted agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for closure.

"The Department of Education is a big con job," Donald Trump told reporters last month, doubling down on his long-standing criticism of the agency, Reuters reported. He also stated that Linda McMahon, his nominee for education secretary, had been tasked with overseeing the department's closure.

This is the second time Trump has proposed dismantling the Education Department, having previously raised the idea during his first term from 2017 to 2021.

However, Congress did not act on his earlier proposals. Conservative think tanks that support abolishing the department have argued that other agencies could take over its role in managing educational aid programs and oversight.