The Trump administration is weighing executive actions to dismantle the US education department as part of efforts by Elon Musk’s so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) to seize control of federal spending and slash the size of the government workforce, the Wall Street Journal reported.
US officials have discussed an executive order that would shut down all functions of the education department that are not written explicitly into statute, or move certain functions to other departments, according to the paper, citing sources.
The order would call for developing a legislative proposal to abolish the department, it said, adding that advisers to Donald Trump are still debating the specifics and timing of such an order.
Meanwhile, dozens of education department employees were told on Friday that they had been put on leave immediately, Associated Press reported, with at least 55 workers losing access to their government email accounts and told not to report to the office.
Emails sent to the employees said they were being put on paid administrative leave pursuant to Trump’s executive order banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government, according to a labor union.
Before Trump took office in January, his transition team drafted an order that would have directed the education secretary to proceed to eliminate the department and call on Congress to approve such an effort, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Trump’s pick for education secretary, the former WWE executive Linda McMahon, is still waiting to be confirmed by the Senate. Some administration officials believe an executive order should wait until McMahon’s Senate confirmation hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.
During his election campaign, Trump promised to eliminate the education department – which he described as being infiltrated by “radicals, zealots and Marxists” – and give states all power to control education.
A US president alone cannot eliminate a department, as Congress is required to approve the creation or demise of an agency.
But Trump officials can alter key parts of the department’s budget and policies, or replicate the approach they used with the US agency for international development (USAid) this past week.
In recent days, Musk’s representatives at Doge have suspended senior USAid staff, shut down its website, accessed sensitive personnel files and locked employees out of the Washington DC office.
Workers for Doge, an unofficial government department with no congressionally approved mandate, have also reportedly gained access to the US treasury’s highly sensitive database and federal payments system
A Doge team was working at the education department on Monday to implement Trump’s executive orders and agenda, an education department spokesperson confirmed.
