Trump Administration Accelerates Efforts to Streamline Federal Education Department
Education Secretary Linda McMahon revealed Thursday that the administration is consulting with dozens of congressional members to lay the groundwork for legislation that would permanently enshrine the department’s ongoing restructuring, marking a decisive advance on President Trump’s commitment to reduce federal overreach in education.
During a White House press briefing, McMahon responded to questions about the department’s recent announcement to transfer key functions to other agencies, confirming active outreach on Capitol Hill.
“We’ve been talking to dozens of members of Congress to explain to them exactly what we’re doing, to bring them up to speed,” she said, “and to say to them, ‘Look, when we have completed some of these transfers that are working incredibly well, then we will be looking for Congress to codify those.’”
House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg, R-Mich., is among the lawmakers involved in these discussions.
“The chairman has always believed that the Department of Education can’t be completely dissolved without congressional approval—a notion that both President [Donald] Trump and Sec. McMahon have also stated,” a committee spokesperson told The Daily Signal.
“These interagency agreements are partnerships that will break up bureaucracy and improve the programs that Americans rely on. By harnessing the expertise of other agencies and relevant stakeholders, we are empowering students, teachers, and parents.”
Bold Realignment Puts Expertise Where It Belongs
The administration has executed interagency agreements that shift core responsibilities to departments with deeper relevant experience: elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education oversight to the Labor Department; Indian Education programs to the Interior Department; international education and foreign language initiatives, including Fulbright-Hays, to the State Department; and campus child care and foreign medical school accreditation to Health and Human Services.
These transfers represent the most substantial progress toward downsizing the federal education bureaucracy in decades, ensuring programs are managed more efficiently and closer to their intended purpose.
Delivering on a Core Promise with Proven Results
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described the moves as a landmark achievement in President Trump’s agenda to return education decisions to states, localities, and families.
“This commonsense action brings the Trump administration much closer to finally returning education where it belongs at the state and local level, not in Washington, D.C.,” Leavitt said.
She noted that the recent 43-day government shutdown inadvertently demonstrated the department’s limited essential role.
“The Democrats’ reckless 43-day government shutdown did manage to do one valuable thing,” she added. “It proved that America does not need a federal Department of Education. During the longest shutdown in history, the Department of Education furloughed 90% of its staff, and America’s education system was not impacted whatsoever.”
With congressional coordination well underway and the new structure poised to deliver measurable improvements, the Trump administration is methodically fulfilling its mandate to eliminate wasteful bureaucracy and prioritize real results for American students and families.
