By Molly Goddard
2:15am PDT, Mar 21, 2025
_
President
Donald Trump is dismantling the U.S. Department of Education.
The commander-in-chief signed an executive order on Thursday, March 20, to
eliminate the entity and hand back power to the states.
Keep reading to see what the drastic measure means for Americans…
MORE:
Follow Wonderwall on MSN for more top news
_
After weeks of speculation, Donald Trump signed the order during a ceremony at the White House with many state education commissioners in attendance.
While the businessman does have executive power, he needs the support of Congress to make the action a reality.
_
Per the White House recap of the order obtained by
USA Today, Donald Trump told his Education Secretary
Linda McMahon to take "all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the States."
The memo also requests "uninterrupted delivery of services, programs and benefits on which Americans rely."
_
White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary
Harrison Fields raved about Donald Trump's latest move to the news outlet.
Per the official, the order "will empower parents, states and communities to take control and improve outcomes for all students."
According to the document, federal funding for students with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Title I funding for low-income schools and federal
student loan payments will stay the way they are.
_
The motion has been met with controversy, as Senator
Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts made a passionate plea to Linda McMahon and Donald Trump to rethink things.
"The Department of Education (ED) appears to be abandoning the millions of parents, students and borrowers who rely on a functioning federal student aid system to lower education cost," the left-wing politician and a group of other concerned Democrats wrote in a letter, according to
ABC News.
_
"ED should immediately restore all fired [Federal Student Aid] employees responsible for reviewing student aid complaints and refrain from taking any measures to deter the submission of complaints," Elizabeth Warren implored the Republicans.
The liberal politician also noted how this action will deeply harm the average American looking for help to fund their
education. "ED's actions will hurt parents trying to understand how to submit the FAFSA correctly so that they can afford to send their child to college, veterans whose loan repayment status has been processed incorrectly due to their deployment and students whose aid is being improperly withheld by predatory for-profit schools," she added.
