• Orders direct the rewards of education authorization to various countries.
• Prohibit plans to promote DEI, gender ideology.
• The department has spent more than $3TR since 1979, with no achievements: WH.
  

Washington: U.S. President Donald Trump will sign a long-awaited executive order today (Thursday) to shut down the Department of Education and adopt important campaign commitments. Reuters.

Even before signing, the order was challenged by a group of Democratic state attorneys generals who filed a lawsuit trying to prevent Trump from demolishing the department and stop layoffs of nearly half of the employees announced last week.

NAACP is a leading civil rights organization that also blows up the expected orders as unconstitutional.

“It’s a dark day for millions of American children, who rely on the federal government to fund high-quality education, including those in poor and rural communities with parents who voted for Trump,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement.

Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk have tried to shut down institutions such as the government program and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) without Congressional approval, but the abolition of the Education Department would be the first time Trump has closed a cabinet-level agency.

Without Congress legislation, Trump will not be able to close the agency, which may be difficult. Trump’s Republicans have a 53-47 majority in the Senate, but major legislation, such as the bill to eliminate cabinet-level agencies, requires 60 votes, so the support of seven Democrats is to pass.

Senate Democrats have no indication that they will support the abolition of the education sector.

“Trump and Musk are hitting the Department of Education’s billiards and firing half of their employees,” Democratic Senator Patty Murray said in a statement.

The order directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate closures [of] Education and return to the education sector to the states while continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs and benefits Americans rely on. ”

According to the White House summary, it stipulates that any program or activity that receives funds from the remaining education sector should not “improve DEI or gender ideology.”

Trump has repeatedly called for the phase-out of the department, calling it “a huge job.” He proposed closing it during his first term as president, but Congress did not take action.

Last month, Trump said he hoped the department would be closed immediately, but he admitted he needed to buy it from Congress and the Teachers Union.

“The federal control of education has failed students, parents and teachers,” the White House said in the summary. It said that since its inception in 1979, the department has spent more than $3 trillion without student achievement measured by standardized test scores.

Prior to the establishment of the department, education was part of the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, which operated from 1953 to 1979.

McMahon told Siriusxm’s “David Webb Performance” on Tuesday, the government’s goal is to promote innovation and encourage educational best practices at the state level.

“The Ministry of Education does not educate anyone. It does not hire teachers. It does not build curriculum. It does not hire school boards or deans,” she said.

Defenders of the department say it is crucial to maintain public education standards and accuse Republicans of trying to promote for-profit education. Immediate closures could ruin tens of thousands of dollars in K-12 school aid and provide tuition assistance to college students.

McMahon, co-founder and former CEO of the WWE Professional Wrestling franchise, was confirmed by the Senate Monday, defending Trump’s plan to abolish the agency, but assured that Congress provides federal school funds to assist low-income school districts and students will continue.

A source familiar with the order said student loans and services for children with disabilities have been codified legally and will continue.

The U.S. department oversees approximately 100,000 public and 34,000 private schools in the U.S., although more than 85% of public school funding comes from state and local governments. It provides federal grants for schools and programs in need, including paying teachers to children with special needs, funding arts programs and replacing outdated infrastructure.

It also oversees $1.6 trillion in student loans held by thousands of Americans who are unable to pay college fees.

Legal barriers

The attorney general from 20 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit in federal court in Boston last week after the department announced plans to lay off 1,300 employees as part of the agency’s “final mission.”

The layoffs will bring the department’s 2,183 workers from the 4,133 staff members who Trump took office in January and through the acquisition offer and probation of employees, part of Trump’s efforts to reduce the size of the federal government.

The lawsuit argues that the massive layoffs would prevent the agency from enforcing the core functions mandated by regulations, including in the realm of civil rights, in fact, usurping Congress’ authority in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

It said McMahon “does not allow the elimination of the duties of another agency other than the statutory mandate.”