A quiet dismantling is underway within the Department of Education, a deliberate unraveling of a federal agency born in 1979. The Trump administration has initiated a series of agreements, shifting key responsibilities and programs away from the Department and into the hands of other federal entities.
The move isn’t about immediate closure, but a strategic redistribution of power. Secretary Linda McMahon framed it as a return of control to the states, a breaking of bureaucratic chains that have long bound local education initiatives. It’s a process fueled by a long-held ambition to fundamentally alter the federal role in American schooling.
These aren’t isolated actions. Over 200 interactions have already occurred between the Department of Education and other agencies, utilizing existing legal mechanisms – interagency agreements – to transfer oversight. Even the previous administration employed these tools, demonstrating their established use within the federal system.
The Department of Labor is poised to take a more prominent role in both elementary and secondary education, focusing on empowering parents and fostering innovation. Simultaneously, it will expand its influence over higher education grant programs, signaling a significant shift in funding and management.
The Department of the Interior will assume greater responsibility for the Indian Education program, while Health and Human Services will oversee foreign medical accreditation and a new initiative aimed at increasing on-campus childcare for college students. A partnership with the State Department will also manage international education and language programs.
Officials emphasize this isn’t about abandoning programs, but about streamlining them. The goal is to leverage the specialized expertise of other agencies, cutting through decades of accumulated bureaucracy and delivering better services to schools, families, and communities.
This initiative directly fulfills a key promise made by President Trump during his campaign – the complete dismantling of the Department of Education. While outright closure requires Congressional action, the administration is actively working to achieve the same outcome through reallocation of authority.
The recent 43-day government shutdown unexpectedly provided a testing ground for this philosophy. Secretary McMahon argued that the continued operation of schools during the shutdown proved the Department’s relative unimportance, highlighting its function primarily as a conduit for funds already destined for states.
The administration views the Department of Education as an unnecessary layer of federal control, believing that decisions about education are best made at the state and local levels, closer to the students and communities they serve. This belief is driving a fundamental reshaping of the American education landscape.
Critics of the Department have long argued it’s a bloated bureaucracy, spending millions on public relations while adding little direct value to the educational experience. The current actions represent a determined effort to dismantle that structure, piece by piece.
