Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that instructs the US education secretary, Linda McMahon, to start dismantling the education department, seemingly attempting to circumvent the need to obtain congressional approval to formally close a federal department.
The administration may eventually pursue an effort to get Congress to shut down the agency, Trump said at a signing ceremony at the White House on Thursday, because its budget had more than doubled in size in recent years but national test scores had not improved.
The federal government does not mandate curriculum in schools; that has been the responsibility of state and local governments, which provide 90% of the funding to schools. Nevertheless, at the White House, Trump repeated his campaign promise to “send education back to the states”.
Democrats on Capitol Hill denounced the executive order and warned it could leave in jeopardy millions of low-income families, who rely on federal funding in schools.
Hakeem Jeffries, the US House minority leader, said in a statement: “Shutting down the Department of Education will harm millions of children in our nation’s public schools, their families and hardworking teachers. Class sizes will soar, educators will be fired, special education programs will be cut and college will get even more expensive.”
Here are the key US politics story from Thursday:
Trump orders dismantling of education department
The executive order targeting the education department, which has been expected for weeks, directed McMahon to take all necessary steps to shut down key functionalities.
Trump added at the signing ceremony that he hoped McMahon would be the last education secretary.
US rejects Mexico’s request for water
The United States has for the first time refused a request by Mexico for water, alleging shortfalls in sharing by its southern neighbor.
“Mexico’s continued shortfalls in its water deliveries under the 1944 water-sharing treaty are decimating American agriculture – particularly farmers in the Rio Grande valley,” the state department said. The 1944 treaty has come under growing strain in recent years due to the pressures of the climate crisis and burgeoning populations in parched areas.
Pam Bondi to charge Tesla damage suspects with ‘domestic terrorism’
The US attorney general announced charges against three people she accused of “violent destruction of Tesla properties”, amid protests and controversy over Tesla owner Elon Musk’s role in slashing US government staffing and budgets under Donald Trump.
In a statement on Thursday, Pam Bondi said: “The days of committing crimes without consequence have ended. Let this be a warning: if you join this wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties, the Department of Justice will put you behind bars.”
Judge blocks Doge from accessing social security records
A federal judge on Thursday blocked Elon Musk’s so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) from accessing social security records as part of its hunt under Donald Trump for fraud and waste, calling the effort a “fishing expedition”.
Revolt looms over defense shake-up
Republicans on Capitol Hill are threatening a revolt against a defense shake-up reportedly planned by the Trump administration that could see the US relinquish its command of Nato forces in Europe.
Musk’s daughter says rally gesture ‘definitely a Nazi salute’
Vivian Jenna Wilson, Elon Musk’s eldest child, has spoken out publicly about her father, saying that Musk “definitely [did] a Nazi salute” at two rallies in January and that he is part of a White House that’s “cartoonishly evil”.
Judge demands answers from White House on deportation flights to El Salvador
A federal judge instructed the Trump administration on Thursday to explain why its failure to turn around flights carrying deportees to El Salvador did not violate his court order in a growing showdown between the judicial and executive branches.
‘Deported because of his tattoos’: has the US targeted Venezuelans for their body art?
The US claims that tattoos prove membership of the Tren de Aragua gang but relatives instead describe tributes to God, family and Real Madrid.
Tom Phillips and Clavel Rangel with this in-depth feature about Franco José Caraballo Tiapa, one of scores shipped to El Salvador by the Trump administration last weekend as part of his hard-line immigration crackdown.
Judge bars Trump administration from deporting Indian academic over political views
A US district judge has barred Donald Trump’s administration from deporting an Indian academic from Georgetown University after the Department of Homeland Security accused him of having ties to Hamas.
What else happened today:
A prominent women’s justice organization launched a campaign on Thursday to have the accused rapist and human trafficker Andrew Tate extradited from the US.
Two men have been found guilty of plotting to assassinate the Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad at her home in New York City in a murder-for-hire scheme that prosecutors said was financed by the Iranian government.
