The Trump administration is advancing plans for a Department of Education closure, announcing partnerships with other federal agencies to handle key programs.
On Tuesday, the department revealed six agreements to transfer programs. The Department of Labor will take over elementary and secondary education programs and higher education grants. The Department of Interior will manage Indian education programs, while the Department of Health and Human Services will handle childcare and foreign medical accreditation programs. International education programs will be overseen by the State Department.
A senior department official said oversight will remain with the Department of Education. Employees working on these programs can transfer to the new agencies to continue their work.
“These moves are a step to reduce federal bureaucracy and return education decisions to the states,” said Education Secretary Linda McMahon. She described the effort as cutting layers of red tape in Washington.
These steps are part of a broader push by President Trump to close the Department of Education. In March, he signed an executive order directing McMahon to eliminate the agency. McMahon has said she hopes to be the last education secretary by moving programs to other agencies while letting states manage their students’ education.
She also acknowledged that a full closure requires congressional approval. Previous efforts to eliminate the department by GOP administrations failed to gain enough support. This time, some Republican lawmakers are backing the idea. Senator Bill Cassidy introduced a bill to shut down the agency.
Some outsourcing has already started. The department moved career, technical, and adult education grants to the Department of Labor. Labor will serve as a “centralized hub” for workforce programs but remain under Education Department oversight.
McMahon told the Federalist Society in September that the department aims to show programs can operate more efficiently in other agencies. Plans for transferring the student-loan portfolio are under discussion, but no details have been released yet.
The Supreme Court cleared the way in July for the department to terminate over 1,300 employees. McMahon cited the recent government shutdown as evidence that the department is unnecessary. She wrote that during the 43-day closure, schools, teachers, and students functioned normally, showing families that federal oversight is not essential.
However, education experts and teachers have expressed concerns about these changes. Heather Stambaugh, a high school social studies teacher, said cutting the department could put funding at risk. She warned that it might create “a chaos loop” for schools across the country.
The administration’s actions mark a major escalation in its goal to reduce federal involvement in education. While state control may increase, the future of federal oversight and support for education programs remains uncertain.
