Trump’s Education Secretary Linda McMahon Meets with Republicans to Discuss Legislation to Dismantle Department

President Donald Trump’s Education Secretary Linda McMahon is in discussions with Republican lawmakers about legislation that would dismantle the Department of Education. 

While McMahon is tasked with winding down the department in compliance with President Trump’s recently signed executive order, disbanding the department altogether will take an act of Congress, since Congress created the department in 1979 under then-President Jimmy Carter. 

“We will be working with Congress. This department was established by statute, by law.  A lot of the programs that are in place are in accordance with statutes, so we know that we’ll be operating in conjunction with Congress, fully abiding by all the terms of the law,” Secretary McMahon told Breitbart News on Tuesday at small media event at Education Department headquarters in Washington, D.C. 

Breitbart News asked McMahon what the aftermath of shutting down the department would look like for states, should Congress end up passing legislation to dismantle it. 

“If Congress does go [on] to eliminate the Department of Education, by that time, they would’ve been convinced that the movements that we are taking to put things in other agencies — like I mentioned, for DOJ [Department of Justice], civil rights,  SBA [Small Business Administration] or Treasury for student loans, the research… that we provide for schools on a national basis — that would be housed someplace, so that the functions [of the department] don’t stop. They’re just not necessarily housed in the Department of Education,” she replied. 

As for getting the ball rolling on Capitol Hill, McMahon told Breitbart News she met with Sen. Mike Rounds (R- SD) on Monday to discuss legislation that would end the department. 

“We had a really good conversation because he was one of the first ones to hop out and talk about how we would take away the Department of Education and make sure the states were more responsible for their programs,” she said.

On March 20, the day President Trump signed the executive order, Sen. Rounds confirmed he has been in discussions with McMahon and said he is working on legislation “that would return education decisions to states and local school districts while maintaining important programs like special education and Title I.”

“The federal BUREAUCRACY of Education has never educated a single student. It’s time to shut it down,”  he remarked in a post to X.

McMahon said she has also been speaking with Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) who is the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, about congressional action.

“He wants to introduce legislation as well. So we will be working lockstep with Congress. By the time they do vote for that, I hope, eventually, we will convince them that the best education we can provide for students is at the state level and not through the bureaucracy in Washington,” she said. 

Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.