Donald Trump signs executive order to ‘eliminate’ Department of Education

Although his efforts are likely to face legal challenges and constitutional obstacles, United States President Donald Trump has fulfilled his campaign promise to begin closing the Department of Education.

The Republican leader formally endorsed an executive order that would start the department’s demise on Thursday at a lavish ceremony.

A small group of children gathered around the president’s desks, each carrying a signed copy of the executive order. The children followed suit when Trump removed the cap on his marker and signed the order. The kids also jumped up when he lifted the finished order for the cameras.

Trump said in a statement before the signing ceremony, “I will sign an executive order to end the Federal Department of Education for good.”

“And it sounds odd, doesn’t it, too?” Everyone is aware of it, and the Democrats are aware that it will be eliminated, according to the Department of Education.

Democrats and advocates for education quickly dismissed the course of action as another instance of executive overreach and as a campaign stunt intended to harm students nationwide.

One of Donald Trump’s most destructive and devastating actions has been to try to destroy the Department of Education. This . Will . Hurt . Within minutes of the ceremony, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer posted a photo of the kids on social media.

According to the order, Congress must approve the department’s closure, which requires Linda McMahon, a long-time ally of Donald Trump.

Under President Jimmy Carter’s leadership, the Department of Education was established in 1979 as a way to combine various federal government initiatives in the field of education. Republicans even argued that this would sever authority from state and local school boards as he created a new cabinet-level position.

However, the department only has a limited scope. Instead of creating curriculums or school programming, it concentrates on obtaining education data, distributing federal aid, and enforcing anti-discrimination laws.

Trump complains about the results of his test.

Despite this claim, Trump has repeatedly held the department to be accountable for the country’s low educational standards, according to experts.

“In this country, the world of education is not good. At Thursday’s ceremony, Trump stated, “And we haven’t for a long time.”

In terms of global standardized test scores, the US does indeed place itself in the middle, as Trump has frequently claimed.

According to the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), an international metric for education standards, American students are ranked above countries like Brazil and Mexico but below countries like Singapore, Japan, and Canada.

PISA attributed the COVID-19 pandemic to lower math test scores between 2018 and 2022. However, reading and scientific accomplishments remained constant.

Trump, in contrast, tied the Department of Education to his wider campaign to eliminate alleged waste and fraud in the federal government, including through widespread layoffs.

He stated from the podium that he had offered buyout offers to employees in the Education Department on Thursday.

“We’ve reduced bureaucratic staff by half.” Trump remarked to the audience to applaud: “Fifty percent have accepted offers.”

According to him, “there are some Republicans, but not too many, and we have employed a small number of Democrats and others for a long time, and I have to be honest with you.”

Trump has previously said he will remove all “Biden bureaucrats” and install loyalists in place of them.

However, critics claim that he mishandled nonpartisan civil service members by removing many of their jobs to maintain administration stability.

McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, is a Trump ally who runs the risk of losing their position as a result of the departmental shake-up.

Trump, however, assured her that she would continue to serve in his administration by saying, “We’re going to find something else for you, Linda.”

Trump: Does he have any authority?

Trump is unable to completely shut down the Department of Education, despite his executive order.

A cabinet-level department may only be officially shut down by Congress. However, Republicans have already stepped up to start legislative proceedings, including Louisiana’s Senator Bill Cassidy.

According to Cassidy, the Department of Education has failed its mission, according to President Trump.

I will support the President’s objectives by introducing legislation to accomplish this as soon as possible because the Department can only be shut down with the consent of Congress.

However, it is unlikely that such legislation will gain enough support to pass the 100-seat Senate’s filibuster-required 60 votes.

According to Al Jazeera correspondent Shihab Rattansi, who lives in Washington, DC, “The Republicans don’t have that.” Only a 53-seat majority makes up the Republicans.

Rattansi predicts that as education advocates prepare to file legal challenges, the matter will likely go before the Supreme Court.

Rattansi argued that as the Trump administration attempts to expand its executive reach, the Education Department is seen as “relatively low-hanging fruit.”

They “have a very broad view of executive power,” they claim. He claimed that they want to test that in court.

The department was established within the previous half-century, which contributes to its vulnerability.

Rattansi cautioned against losing or suspending crucial educational opportunities as legal disputes rage through the court system.

The Department of Education works to guarantee equal access to education for minorities, poor children, children with disabilities, and others. So, as court cases are litigated, there is an additional layer of oversight that may be eliminated, he said.

However, Donald Trump’s main goal is to test the limits of his executive power over the long term.

Teachers’ unions like the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) are already gearing up for legal action.

Our members across the country are concerned about the effects this will have on their students, according to AFT President Randi Weingarten in a statement as Republican governors at the White House celebrate the end of a federal role in education. This is evisceration, not efficiency.

What happens to the organization’s duties?

Trump’s executive order does state that it will “provide the services, programs, and benefits that Americans rely on for a long period of time and without interruption.”

However, critics worry that the department’s dissolution could lead to negative outcomes for programs like the Pell Grant, which provides financial aid to low-income students. On Thursday, Trump made an effort to calm those worries.

They will be fully preserved and redistributed to a number of other organizations and departments who will look after them, he said.

However, he did point out that the department’s primary duties would be split between individual states. His decree forbids federal funding for programs relating to “gender ideology” or diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), two of his frequent targets.

Trump compared the Education Department to the “we’re gonna shut it down and shut it down as soon as possible.”

It is not helping us at all. We want to send our students back to the states, where some of the governors in this state are delighted.

Ron DeSantis, a former presidential candidate for Trump in the year 2024, who was also present, campaigned for the department’s destruction.

However, according to Democratic Michigan lawmaker Rashida Tlaib, there is no other organization that can impose stricter national standards for equal access to education.

“The Department’s federal funding ensures that all children can receive quality education, regardless of who they are or what zip code they were born in,” the statement reads. Many of our children will be abandoned and unable to receive the education they need and deserve, according to a statement from the Department of Education.

No one will be able to keep civil rights laws in our schools without the Department of Education.

Source: Aljazeera