USA Today reports that senior officials say President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Thursday to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education.
He will sign the order at a White House ceremony attended by several Republican governors and state education commissioners.
Trump will direct his education secretary, Linda McMahon, to take “all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the States,” according to a White House summary of the order reviewed by USA TODAY. It also calls for the “uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”
He will be sued, but he has enough time to bring this through the courts and win.
The Education Department is a Cabinet-level agency that can’t be eliminated in total without congressional action.
Harrison Fields, White House principal deputy press secretary, said in a statement to USA TODAY the order “will empower parents, states, and communities to take control and improve outcomes for all students.” He said recent test scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress exam “reveal a national crisis ‒ our children are falling behind.”
Subscribe to the Daily Newsletter
