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Trump’s War on the Dept. of Education [1]

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Date: 2025-02-23

Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)-led assault on the federal government continues. The Department of Education is on the chopping block, with Trump proposing to dismantle it, having accused it of being run by "radical zealots and Marxists." Although there is an acknowledgment that Trump cannot abolish the department, there are plans afoot for Sec. of Education, Linda McMahon, to, “put herself out of a job” , to quote Trump, after rooting out supposed “waste, fraud, and abuse” . This will be done by scaling down operations and reducing funding for the agency, so that there will be no need for Congress to formally shut it down, because it will be dead in all but name. This presents not just a test of the limits of presidential authority, but a risk for college education. Established in 1980, the Dept. of Education plays a pivotal role in administering federal student aid, enforcing civil rights laws in educational settings, and ensuring equal access to education. If Trump succeeds, there will be widespread disruptions, funding to low-income families will be gutted, and the quality and accessibility of college education will be severely hurt.

What Is at Stake

Although Republicans like to think of the Dept. of Education as a Democratic agency, the bill that President Jimmy Carter signed into law in 1980, peeling off the Office of Education, as it was then known, from the Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare and elevating it to a cabinet-level agency, has 100 co-sponsors from 100 Democratic and Republican legislators, 26 of whom were Republicans. The 96th Congress voted for this because the department would guarantee “the federal commitment to ensuring access to equal educational opportunity for every individual”. Although the department has not been perfect, every year, it has invested $15 billion into supporting students with disabilities. Another $15 billion goes into supporting schools serving low-income students. Over $50 billion goes into Pell grants and subsidized loans to help college students defray the cost of education. The Dept. of Educations helps tens of millions of students get an education and good jobs so they can contribute to building our country.

Eliminating the department could jeopardize the administration and distribution of these funds, leading to delays, inconsistencies, or even the complete cessation of aid. This scenario would disproportionately impact low-income students who depend heavily on federal assistance to access higher education. Without a centralized agency to manage these programs, the responsibility might shift to states or private entities, potentially resulting in a fragmented and inequitable system. That is what is at stake.

Trump’s first salvo has been fired across the federal government, with 20,000 federal workers already fired, and plans for another 200,000 to be fired. There are about 3 million federal workers, so this is a huge hit, especially when you consider that, rather than being too big, the federal government is so small that it has to hire contractors to help it fulfil its mandate. The Dept. of Education is the smallest Cabinet-level department, with just 4,245 workers and Trump, as with many previous Republican presidents, has said he will abolish it. The difference is, he is actually trying to do it.

Is this Legal?

Legally, a department created by an act of Congress can only be abolished by an act of Congress. Some of you may note a curious thing about Trump’s tenure so far: he has avoided passing any major legislation. The reason is simple: he distrusts Congressional Republicans' ability to steer through legislation, and, despite the talk about winning a large mandate, House Republicans have the smallest majority since 1931 . Any dissent could kill a bill or force Trump to spend capital negotiating with Congress to get a bill through. Trump does not have the ingredients to hammer through long-lasting changes through the legislature. The upside for the country is, as easily as he has written executive orders, a Democratic president could roll back all those changes with similarly aggressive executive orders. Absent a robust majority, Trump has to kill the department through the back door, by denying it funds and firing workers.

Here again, Trump has faced challenges: the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 clearly sets out procedures for when a President impounds or withholds funds that have been allocated by Congress. The President must apply to Congress, and if that rescission proposal has not been passed within 45 days, the withheld funds must be made available. Trump and his acolytes are arguing that the Impoundment Control Act is unconstitutional, and budget allocations only set a limit on how much the federal government can spend, and that the President has the authority to define how much is given within that limit. Although Trump's federal government grant pause was rescinded, the executive memo calling for it remains. Whether the Impoundment Control Act is constitutional or not will be tested in the Supreme Court. A surface level reading tells me that Congress has the power of the purse by virtue of the Constitution, and if the Act is unconstitutional, the President would have oversight over Congress, changing the very nature of our democracy.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/2/23/2305761/-Trump-s-War-on-the-Dept-of-Education?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

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