Education Secretary Linda McMahon Takes ‘Bold’ New Action to Dismantle Education Department

The U.S. Department of Education announced on Tuesday, Nov. 18, that it is transferring some of its largest grant programs to the Department of Labor and several other federal agencies, as the Trump administration speeds up its broader effort to dismantle the department.

Under six new interagency agreements, the Department of Labor will oversee some of the biggest federal funding streams for K–12 schools. These changes will effectively end the Education Department’s direct role in supporting K–12 academic programs and in widening access to higher education.

Additional responsibilities will be taken on by the departments of Health and Human Services, Interior and State. According to the announcement, the shift is intended to “break up the federal education bureaucracy, ensure efficient delivery of funded programs, activities, and move closer to fulfilling the President’s promise to return education to the states.”

The six partnerships being created are: Elementary and Secondary Education Partnership, Postsecondary Education Partnership, Indian Education Partnership, Foreign Medical Accreditation Partnership, Child Care Access Means Parents in School Partnership, and International Education and Foreign Language Studies Partnership.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March directing the dismantling of the department and instructing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take steps to wind it down where legally possible — a move strongly opposed by teachers’ unions.

Formally abolishing the department would still require an act of Congress, which established the agency in 1979 during the administration of President Jimmy Carter.

The Education Department has long been a target for many conservatives, including Trump, who has labeled it “ineffective” and alleged it has been “infiltrated” by radicals. His former education secretary, Betsy DeVos, said in 2022 that the department “should not exist.”

“The Trump Administration is taking bold action to break up the federal education bureaucracy and return education to the states,” McMahon said in a statement on Tuesday. “Cutting through layers of red tape in Washington is one essential piece of our final mission.”

McMahon added that the agencies involved will work with Congress to cement these changes in law. It is not yet clear whether this restructuring will trigger additional job losses at the Education Department, which has already seen significant layoffs.

After being sworn in as secretary in March, McMahon said she intended to “overhaul” the department in what she described as a “last chance to restore the culture of liberty and excellence that made American education great.”

Plans for Tuesday’s announcement were first reported by The Washington Post. In the lead-up, McMahon and the department’s official X accounts shared a video montage of prominent Republicans — including former President Ronald Reagan and Sen. Bob Dole — voicing support for shutting down the Education Department dating back to 1980, when the agency first began operations.