President Trump signs an executive order calling for the elimination of the U.S. Education Department

President Donald Trump arrives at the annual St. Patrick's Day luncheon at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday calling for the dismantling of the U.S. Education Department, advancing a campaign promise to take apart 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.
And the White House says the department would not close completely right now. It is to retain certain critical functions, like managing federal student loans and Pell grants.

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