U.S. President Donald Trump will sign an executive order Thursday that fulfills a key campaign promise of shutting down the Department of Education.
According to a White House summary seen by Reuters, the move ensures the department – called “a big con job” by Trump – is no more. The plan is to shift much of the department’s duties to the states, where curricula is determined, as well as other agencies.
Trump’s new education secretary, Linda McMahon, has defended the president’s initiative achieving what would be his first shutdown of a cabinet-level agency.
The Trump administration has already been gutting the agency, as Breitbart News reported.
Its workforce is being slashed in half and there have been deep cuts to the Office for Civil Rights and the Institute of Education Sciences, which gathers data on the nation’s academic progress, much to the anger of Democrat opponents.
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According to Reuters, the order directs McMahon to, “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the States, while continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”
NPR reports the closure has been expected since early February, when the White House revealed its intentions but withheld the action until after McMahon’s Senate confirmation.
It now arrives more than a week after the Trump administration has already begun sweeping layoffs at the Education Department.
In his 2024 election platform, Trump promised to close the department “and send it back to the states, where it belongs,” citing its indolence, misplaced priorities and drain on taxpayer dollars for little return.
USA Today was first to report news of Thursday’s signing.
