President Trump preps executive order to dismantle Education Department

A preliminary executive order prepared for President Donald Trump seeks to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education to "the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law," according to a draft reviewed by USA TODAY.

The order would direct Linda McMahon, the newly installed education secretary, to dismantle the agency she oversees. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said in a statement on X that Trump won't sign an order Thursday, as some media outlets have reported, but she did not rule out action coming later.

A White House official told USA TODAY Trump is still examining his next steps toward a potential executive action and addressing the future of the Department of Education.

Since only Congress can abolish federal agencies, the decree would set up a new test for the bounds of presidential authority. And it has the potential to create a new wave of anxiety about the billions of congressionally appropriated dollars that regularly flow through the Education Department to schools and students.

A copy of a draft order directs McMahon to "take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities."

It was unclear whether this draft of the executive order, which has been in the works for weeks, is the version that Trump is now contemplating.

Trump campaigned to eliminate the Department of Education, which Republicans have long accused of holding too much power over local and state education policy, even though the federal government has no control over school curriculum. Trump told reporters last month that he hopes McMahon eventually puts herself "out of a job."

The potential decree – which was reported by The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and National Public Radio – comes after McMahon, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Monday, laid out what she called the "final mission" of the agency. That vision, she said in a message to staffers, is to "end the overreach from Washington."

"This restoration will profoundly impact staff, budgets, and agency operations here at the Department," she wrote. "In coming months, we will partner with Congress and other federal agencies to determine the best path forward to fulfill the expectations of the President and the American people."

McMahon did not, however, explicitly call on Monday for the total abolition of the Education Department. In her public statements on the subject, she has walked a fine line since Trump tapped her to manage the agency. Her boss has repeatedly signaled he intends to shutter the department. A few weeks ago, he said he wanted it "closed immediately."

But McMahon admitted during her Senate confirmation hearing last month that the agency "clearly could not be shut down without" congressional approval.

She also stressed that key funding streams – such as Pell Grants, federal student loans and Title I financial assistance for low-income schools – would not be affected by the Trump administration's efforts to downsize.

Yet the president's broader rapid-fire agenda has already disrupted major segments of the American education system.

Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has terminated millions of dollars in education research contracts, effectively decimating the Education Department's data-collecting branch. Universities are in a holding pattern amid a court battle over proposed cuts to money on which they rely heavily. Grant funding for researchers has separately been frozen, jeopardizing graduate admissions and posing a major threat to college budgets.

The Education Department itself, meanwhile, has been beset with layoffs, buyouts and administrative turnover, which has caused frustrations internally and is already hampering its functions. Another "very significant" reduction in workforce is coming, the agency's human resources chief warned employees late last week, before urging them to take a $25,000 offer to quit or resign within days.

Three weeks ago, Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, pressed McMahon at her confirmation hearing about whether gutting the agency responsible for overseeing important federal programs for schools would have wider implications.

"How do we maintain the administration and oversight of these programs if we abolish or substantially reorganize the Department of Education?" she asked. 

McMahon promised that money flowing from Congress wouldn't be disrupted. Democrats weren't convinced.