By: Jordan Sarver-Bontrager
Staff-Writer
On Feb. 4, NBC News reported that President Trump was preparing an executive order that would close the Department of Education. At the time of publication, the department is still operating.
President Trump cannot shut down the Department of Education on his own; he needs the approval of Congress in order for this to happen. Still, these plans are unsurprising to some, as plans to shrink and eventually abolish the department were outlined in the Project 2025 Mandate for Leadership. Trump said on Feb. 12 that he would “like [the department] to be closed immediately” and that it “is a big con job.”
Check out our four-part series on Project 2025 at iusbpreface.net.
The Department of Education serves over 50 million K-12 students in public and private schools, as well as millions of college students through grants, student loans and work-study programs. Dismantling the department would affect all facets of the education system in the U.S. Public schools will be the most affected, and in turn so would students of color, disabled students, LGBTQ+ students, and students in low-income and impoverished families, who rely on accessible public education.
On Feb. 8, Democratic lawmakers were blocked from entering the Department of Education building, marking the fourth time that week that Democrats were blocked from accessing a government building.
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team is currently gutting the department, laying off federal workers and cutting grants. The DOGE team has been attempting to strongarm and close several federal departments these last couple weeks, and the Department of Education is just the newest target of these attacks, but it’s not yet clear how many employees have been terminated and how operations have or will continue to change.
This story is developing rapidly. Tune in next week for updates and to hear insights from IU South Bend education professors about how a potential collapse of the Department of Education could impact education as a whole.