AGREED

 

Well all i can say is   i have to agree   wholeheartedly .......simple  simple   dolly dimple ....it's about time i think ......

Trump wants the Department of Education to be closed 'immediately.' Here's what shutting it down would mean.

Ayelet Sheffey

Thu, February 13, 2025 at 9:20 AM PST

4 min read

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• Linda McMahon, Donald Trump's education secretary pick, has her confirmation hearing on Thursday.

• It comes amid statements from Trump that he'd like to dismantle the Department of Education.

• The department facilitates the federal grant and student-loan system and civil rights enforcement.

Imagine you're interviewing for a new role as department head, and part of the job description is to shut the division down.

That's what appears to be happening to Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump's pick for education secretary. Her role would lead the department that oversees schools, collects student data, and manages the federal student aid system, but even before she appeared before lawmakers on Thursday for her confirmation hearing, Trump has said he aims to shut down the department altogether.

"I told Linda, 'Linda, I hope you do a great job and put yourself out of a job.' I want her to put herself out of a job," Trump told reporters on February 4, adding on February 12 that he wanted the Department of Education to be closed "immediately."

When announcing McMahon as his education secretary pick in November, Trump posted on Truth Social that one of his goals for her was to "send Education BACK TO THE STATES." Trump and some GOP lawmakers have said that education can be managed at the local level and that a federal agency isn't needed.

Trump has also signed an executive order to "promote patriotic education" in public schools and eliminate ideologies that don't align with his politics. The Department of Education doesn't control classroom curriculum.

Eliminating any federal agency requires approval from Congress, and while some Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation to get rid of the Department of Education, there hasn't yet been enough support to make that happen.

McMahon acknowledged those mechanics during her confirmation hearing, saying that the department "clearly cannot be shut down" without Congress.

Still, over the past weeks, Trump has been working to reduce many federal agency functions by laying off staff and canceling the programs they oversee, as he recently did with the US Agency for International Development.

Here are some of the Department of Education's key responsibilities that would be impacted if the agency shuts down.

Manages grants and student loans

One of the Department of Education's primary tasks is facilitating the $1.7 trillion student-loan portfolio. More than 40 million student-loan borrowers hold federal loans, and the department's Federal Student Aid office works with student-loan servicers to manage borrowers' loan repayment.