Department of Education: What would dismantling it look like? What legal challenges could happen?
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursdy to begin dismantling the Department of Education.
During a White House ceremony for the signing, the president blamed the department for America’s lagging academic performance.
“It’s doing us no good," he said as Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Texas and Florida Govs. Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis watched in attendance.
Trump said to McMahon that he hopes she will be the "last secretary of education."
The president campaigned on abolishing the department, claiming it has been overrun by “radicals, zealots, and Marxists” pushing a “woke agenda.” He has also expressed support for states assuming more responsibility for education.
While Trump may aim to dismantle the Department of Education, he cannot eliminate it unilaterally through an executive order. That’s because abolishing a Cabinet department requires congressional action, as Congress established the department in 1979 and appropriates its funding.
“Constitutionally and legally, and I think the answer for most observers who look at these matters, the answer is no. I mean, it's pretty clear the answer is no (he can’t abolish the Department of Education),” said Matt Dallek, a professor at George Washington University.
Dallek, an expert on modern American political history and the use of presidential power, explained that Trump’s main roadblock is that Congress controls the power of the purse, a principle codified in the 1974 Impoundment Control Act.
“The Impoundment Act says essentially that presidents cannot simply redirect funds or spend as they wish in defiance of Congress and that, you know, Congress controls the spending,” Dallek said. “It really gets to the heart of separation of powers.”
Trump’s effort to dismantle the Education Department has focused heavily on the federal agency’s supposed influence on curriculum, highlighting issues like critical race theory. However, the department does not set curricula for schools; that responsibility is already largely left to state and local authorities.
The department’s primary role is financial, providing funding for programs like student loans and financial aid, special education, subsidies for low-income districts, and civil rights enforcement. Congress has already approved and appropriated the funding for these programs.
Video below: Nonprofit files lawsuit against Department of Education over DEI ban
“There’s a reason why Congress has not voted to abolish the Education Department,” Dallek said. “You know, people hate government in the abstract. They think it's bloated. But, you know, a lot of people rely on it or value a particular service or particular funding stream.
“A lot of rural districts that vote overwhelmingly conservative, you know, they get funding from the Department of Education,” Dallek continued. “It's not as if Republicans in Congress are chomping at the bit to abolish it, or at least a lot of them I don't think are, because it would hurt their constituents.”
About 6 in 10 registered voters oppose Trump’s plan to eliminate the Department of Education, according from March.
An also found about 6 in 10 U.S. adults overall opposed proposals to dismantle the department.
Americans have mixed views of the Department of Education, according to polling. They were about evenly split between favorable and unfavorable views in a 2024 poll, with about two-thirds of Republicans having a negative view.
Dallek said that although Trump’s power to abolish the department is constrained, there are other avenues he could explore to hinder its function that are less legally defined.
“Trump may not have the power to abolish it, but, you know, they could certainly try to defund it. They could fire a lot of people. They could use all kinds of machinations to make it dysfunctional and to perpetuate that kind of chaos,” Dallek said.
Dallek compared it to Trump’s approach to USAID and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The Education Department has already faced some of that treatment. Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cut it dismissed as “woke” and wasteful. It gutted the Institute of Education Sciences, which gathers data on the nation’s academic progress, and the administration has scores of employees.
“I think the legal question, the Constitution question is really important. But there's also the reality of how Trump and Musk and his administration are now operating. And the reality is that they clearly don't care about the Constitution or Congress,” Dallek said. “And if you don't care about those things, you can do a lot of damage. And in a way, whether (the Education Department) is still standing after four years or not, I mean, it's possible that’s a little beside the point.”
Washington Post columnist Ramesh Ponnuru that Trump could also shift all of the programs within the Education Department to other agencies, rendering it impotent.
“The Justice Department would take over the work of enforcing civil rights in education, for example, and the Treasury Department would oversee student loans,” Ponnuru wrote.
Trump stated during his White House signing ceremony Thursday that he would likely be taking this route.
The president said programs like Pell Grants and Title I will "be preserved in full and redistributed to various other agencies and departments that will take very good care of them."
Dallek, who spoke to Hearst Television before the president signed the executive order, said he did not think that Trump would take that approach since the administration has opted for a more “slashing and burning” style with other agencies. But he acknowledged that it could be a possibility.
Either way, Dallek said he believes Trump will face legal challenges.
“I think whatever order Trump signs, whatever form it takes, it will be, very quickly swept into the courts,” Dallek said.
Democratic attorneys general in 20 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, alleging that the mass layoffs at the Department of Education are gutting the agency to implement Trump's unlawful plan to dismantle it.
The states accuse the administration of “effectively nullifying” mandates by Congress that require the department to carry out certain functions.
The Associated Press and CNN contributed to this report.