What is the Department of Education?

President Donald Trump is considering an executive order that would close the United States Department of Education, a goal of long -standing conservatives.

The measure would fulfill a promise he made in the campaign.

Trump plans to put an end to some of the department’s programs, while others would stay in different parts of the government, according to US media reports.

The Republican President will direct his recently confirmed Secretary of Education Linda McMahon that “take all the necessary measures to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education” based on “the maximum extent appropriate and allowed by law”, according to a draft of the order observed by the Wall Street Journal.

However, the abolition of the department requires an act of Congress.

Established in 1979, the Department of Education supervises funds for public schools, manages student loans and performs programs that help low -income students.

Trump and his allies have accused the agency of “indoctrinating young people with racial, sexual and political inappropriate material.”

In December, he nominated the former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) CEO and his transition co -president, Linda McMahon, as his choice for the Secretary of Education. The Senate has not yet scheduled the confirmation procedures for McMahon.

A common erroneous idea is that the Department of Education operates USAs of the USA and establishes the curricula, this responsibility actually belongs to the local states and districts.

The agency supervises the student loan programs and manages Pell subsidies that help low -income students to attend the university.

It also helps finance programs to support students with disabilities and students living in poverty.

And the Department enforces the Civil Rights Law designed to prevent discrimination of race or sex in schools funded by the Federal Government.

The allocation of the department was $ 238 billion (£ 188 billion) in fiscal year 2024, less than 2% of the total federal budget.

The agency says it has about 4,400 employees, the smallest department of any department at the cabinet level.

Most public funds for US schools come from state and local governments.

In 2024, the education data initiative estimated that the United States spends a total of just over $ 857 billion in primary and secondary education, the equivalent of $ 17,280 per student.

On his own, no.

Not only Trump would need the approval of the Congress to get rid of the department, but also would also need a supermayer in the United States Senate, 60 out of every 100 senators.

Republicans have a majority of 53-47 in the Senate, so they would need at least seven Democrats to vote to abolish the agency, a political shot.

Even in the House of Representatives, Trump would fight to obtain the necessary support.

A vote last year to abolish the Department of Education, which was attached as an amendment to another bill, it was not approved, since 60 Republicans joined all Democrats in the Chamber to vote not.

Trump has moved to reduce other government departments in recent weeks, despite the questions about the legality of these movements.

An anterior draft of the Trump order to dismantle the Department of Education, obtained last month by the Washington Post, acknowledged that only Congress can get rid of the agency directly, but the executive action could lead the agency to start decreasing.

The employees of the Department of Education are among those who focus on the efforts of the administration to Get the Federal Work Force.

The idea of ​​eliminating the education department has been floated by Republicans for almost the same time that has existed.

During the presidential campaign of Ronald Reagan of 1980, he pressed to be dismantled.

Historically, Republicans have pressed against the centralization of educational policy, believing that it is better to leave it to individual states and locations.

More recently, they have accused the education department of promoting what they describe as a political ideology “awakened” to children, even in gender and race.

Trump’s allies also want to expand the choice of school, which would allow students and families to use public money to select private or religious alternatives to public schools.

Conservatives argue that other functions of the Department of Education, such as loan administration, must be handled instead by the United States Treasury Department, and that civil rights violations are the domain of the Department of Justice.