Trump Signs Executive Order to Dismantle Department of Education, Stirring Debate Across the Nation

President Donald Trump on Thursday put pen to paper, signing an executive order that sets in motion a plan to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.

The move, announced during a ceremony in the White House’s East Room, fulfills a promise Trump has championed since his 2024 campaign, igniting a firestorm of reactions from supporters and critics alike. Flanked by students, educators, and Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Trump declared the decision a step toward handing education control back to the states, a vision he says will cut costs and boost classroom outcomes.

The executive order directs McMahon, the former wrestling executive confirmed as Education Secretary on March 3, to take “all necessary steps to facilitate the closure” of the department, an agency born in 1979 under President Jimmy Carter. Trump, who once called it “a big con job,” argued that shuttering the department would free families and kids from a system he believes is letting them down. “Closing the Department of Education would provide children and their families the opportunity to escape a system that is failing them,” he said, according to a White House statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, at 16:57 AST.

Locally, Governor Albert Bryan Jr. agrees with Trump's intent to fund state and territory Departments of Education directly. But the road to dismantling the department isn’t a straight shot. Legal experts and lawmakers point out that only Congress can fully axe a Cabinet-level agency like this one, a process needing 60 votes in the Senate to beat a filibuster. With Democrats holding firm against the idea, the White House admits it doesn’t have the numbers yet. Still, Trump’s team isn’t waiting around—they’re slashing staff and budgets to shrink the department’s reach, a tactic critics call a backdoor gutting. Earlier this month, on March 11, the department announced a 50% workforce cut, offering $25,000 payouts to staffers who quit voluntarily, per Politico.