Only Congress can close the Department of Education, and Republicans are going to try

WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans are working to codify into law President Donald Trump’s sweeping executive order that calls for the elimination of the U.S. Education Department.

GOP lawmakers, including Sens. Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Rand Paul of Kentucky, along with Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Michael Rulli of Ohio and David Rouzer of North Carolina, are working on or have introduced legislation that would accomplish Trump’s aims in abolishing the agency.

Trump’s order recognizes that only Congress — which established the 45-year-old department — has the power to dismantle it.

But any of these lawmakers’ efforts would face major difficulties getting through the narrowly GOP-controlled Senate, which requires at least 60 senators to advance a bill past the filibuster. Republicans hold 53 seats.

Seizing on the order

Following the signing on March 20, Cassidy, who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, said on social media he will support Trump “by submitting legislation to accomplish this as soon as possible.”

The Louisiana Republican said he agrees with Trump “that the Department of Education has failed its mission.”

Rounds also plans to reintroduce a bill that seeks to abolish the department and transfer existing programs to other federal agencies.

In a March 20 post on social media, the South Dakota Republican said he’s “working on legislation that would return education decisions to states and local school districts while maintaining important programs like special education and Title I.”

“We are discussing this legislation with Secretary (Linda) McMahon and we believe there is a very good path forward,” he said.

Paul, of Kentucky, plans to reintroduce a measure this upcoming week that seeks to “terminate” the department, according to his office.

The legislation would serve as a companion to a bill that Massie, also of Kentucky, introduced in the House earlier this year.

Massie’s bill offers no details as to how the core functions of the department would be transferred to other agencies, but says the agency should “terminate” on Dec. 31, 2026.

Rulli, of Ohio, is also bringing forth legislation in the House that would help make Trump’s order a law, according to Fox News. He was one of several GOP lawmakers and state officials who attended the March 20 executive order signing ceremony in the White House.

And in January, Rouzer, of North Carolina, introduced a bill that calls for the elimination of the department and transferring certain programs to other agencies.

What the order says

Trump directed McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure” of the department and “return authority over education to the States and local communities while ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”

The president is already taking significant steps to dismantle the agency.

Trump said March 21 that the Small Business Administration would handle the student loan portfolio for the department, and that the Department of Health and Human Services would handle special education services and nutrition programs.

Prior to the executive order, the Education Department witnessed major shifts in the weeks since Trump took office.

The agency announced earlier in March that more than 1,300 employees would be cut through a “reduction in force,” or RIF, process.

Democrats push back

Meanwhile, congressional Democrats are fuming over Trump’s move to shrink the department.

Virginia U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, ranking member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, led his fellow Democrats on the panel in introducing a resolution of inquiry on March 21 that asks Trump and McMahon to provide documents on the RIF and “other downsizing measures at the Department of Education.”

In response to Trump’s order, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said: “Enabled by compliant House Republicans, the Trump administration is determined to take a chainsaw to public education in America” in a Thursday statement.

“Shutting down the Department of Education will harm millions of children in our nation’s public schools, their families and hardworking teachers. Class sizes will soar, educators will be fired, special education programs will be cut and college will get even more expensive, at a time when the cost of living is already too high,” the New York Democrat said.

In a March 20 social media post, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said “attempting to dismantle the Department of Education is one of the most destructive and devastating steps Donald Trump has ever taken.”

Schumer said the “horrible decision by Donald Trump will be felt by teachers, parents, school leaders, and in the quality of education our children receive” and reiterated that only Congress has the authority to eliminate a department.

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