President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Thursday to close the Department of Education, according to a fact sheet released by the White House. Trump will hold an event at the White House to sign the order, which directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take the necessary steps to close the department and transfer education authority back to the states, while ensuring the continued delivery of essential services, programs, and benefits.
The Trump administration’s own figures show that the department, which had 4,133 employees when he took office, has seen nearly 600 workers resign or retire. Last week, 1,300 employees were informed they would be laid off as part of a workforce reduction. This leaves just 2,183 staff members, about half of the department’s original size.
The Department of Education was established by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 after Congress passed the Department of Education Organization Act with bipartisan support.
Recently, Secretary McMahon moved to significantly reduce the department’s workforce, calling the job cuts the first step toward dismantling it. “That was the president’s mandate,” McMahon said in a Fox News interview last week. “His directive to me, clearly, is to shut down the Department of Education, which we know will require working with Congress.”
McMahon also emphasized her commitment to working with Congress to fulfill Trump’s plan to dismantle the department, as she informed employees of major upcoming changes. “Our job is to respect the will of the American people and the President they elected, who has tasked us with eliminating bureaucratic bloat at the Department of Education—our momentous final mission—quickly and responsibly,” she wrote in an email obtained by NBC News.
McMahon was confirmed by the Senate in a 51-45 vote, with no Democratic senators supporting her nomination.