As President Trump reportedly weighs his options for accomplishing his campaign promise of eliminating the Department of Education, experts spoke to Fox News Digital about what that process will look like and what hurdles the president will have to overcome.
“The administration is right to push to eliminate the ineffective and unpopular Department of Education,” Jonathan Butcher, Will Skillman Senior Research Fellow in Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital shortly before the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump officials are mulling an executive order calling for a legislative proposal to get rid of the department.
“One thing I’ll be doing very early in the administration is closing up the Department of Education in Washington, DC, and sending all education and education work it needs back to the states,” Trump said in a 2023 campaign video.
A White House official told Fox News Digital on Monday night that Trump plans to fulfill his campaign promise by reevaluating the future of the department.
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President Trump vowed on the campaign trail to eliminate the Dept of Education and bring the power back to the states. (Getty Images)
Butcher told Fox News Digital, “Congress should heed the call and advance policy to eliminate most of the agency’s programs and spending while moving remaining programs to other federal agencies.”
“President Trump can declare that the Education Department’s powers are unconstitutional and request a memo from the Department of Justice to support such a position. The president could, conceivably, do the same for specific programs, the Higher Education Act, for example.”
“Another approach would be to relocate the agency someplace away from Washington, DC and require employees work in-person, 5 days per week,” Butcher added. “The White House can still remove any non-essential, or non-exempt, positions in the meantime. Even…
