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President Donald Trump began making good on his campaign promise to close the U.S. Department of Education, which announced this week it would slash close to 50 percent of its workforce.
Republicans have long sought to close the department, saying it is larded with what Education Secretary Linda McMahon has called “bureaucratic bloat.”
While McMahon pledged to return education to the states, that’s largely where many key components already reside: School curricula are shaped at the state and local levels. But the department does oversee the government’s massive student loan program, a function that could be difficult for states to take on. It also administers Title I grants, which support schools with high poverty populations, and programs that help educate students with disabilities.
In recent years, education has been at the center of the political culture war over parents’ rights. The GOP rode the platform to victory in 2021, when Glenn Youngkin flipped the Virginia governorship amid concerns about COVID-related school closures and classroom lessons on race. Republicans later seized on campus antisemitism and the issue of transgender athletes, seeking to bar their participation in girls’ high school and college women’s sports.
Democrats are fighting Trump’s plan to close the department, both in court and in the court of public opinion. Democratic state attorneys general filed a lawsuit Thursday morning to block the administration from dismantling the department and laying off workers.
A poll out last month signaled Democrats may have public support on their side. Sixty-three percent of voters, including nearly 30 percent of Republicans, opposed closing the Education Department, according to the Ipsos survey, while 32 percent were in favor.
House Appropriations ranking member Rosa DeLauro suggested Republican lawmakers were happy to let Trump chip away at the department instead of holding a vote on its fate — and facing the potential political fallout.
“If you want to eliminate the Department of Education, then put your name on a bill to do that,” the Connecticut Democrat told her GOP colleagues. “Let your constituents see it. Let us debate it. Let us and the American people deliberate. Do not yield our authority, and the rule of law, to unchecked billionaires.”
Starting gate
Looking for new boogeymen: Republicans are looking for a new liberal villain as some of the reliable targets of the past recede from the stage. Democrats meanwhile, appear to have found their new boogeyman: Elon Musk, the billionaire businessman who has been entrusted by Trump to lead the administration’s aggressive effort to slash costs.
Shaheen not running: Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the New Hampshire Democrat who previously served as governor, announced Wednesday that she will not seek a fourth term next year. Democratic Reps. Chris Pappas and Maggie Goodlander are weighing bids to succeed her. On the GOP side, potential candidates include former Massachusetts Sen. Scott P. Brown, who lost a Senate bid to Shaheen in 2014, and former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who The Washington Times reported before Shaheen’s announcement was reconsidering a Senate run. Brown met with key Republicans — including Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. — at the Capitol this week.
Porter seeks Sacramento: Former Rep. Katie Porter, a California Democrat who was unsuccessful in her Senate bid last year, announced she is joining the crowded race to succeed term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom. All eyes, though, are on former Vice President Kamala Harris, who is expected to make a decision about running by the end of summer.
House Dems at retreat: House Democrats headed out to Leesburg, Va., on Wednesday for their annual issues conference. While there, DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene of Washington told reporters, “House Democrats and the American public are going to hold Republicans accountable for their broken promises, and we’re already seeing across the country people standing up and speaking out against their dangerous agenda.” Mary Ellen, who is in Leesburg covering the retreat, talked to Roll Call Editor-in-Chief Jason Dick about the agenda and where Democrats go next on the latest Political Theater podcast.
The revolution will be livestreamed: Some Democrats are urging the party to pay more attention to online communities, including on streaming websites such as YouTube and Twitch, to help reverse a decline in support among younger male voters, our colleague Jim Saksa reports.
Shutdown showdown: The odds of a government shutdown inched up after Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer suggested Wednesday that his caucus won’t provide the votes to get to the needed 60 to allow a stopgap funding measure to come to a final vote, our colleague David Lerman reported. As of noon Thursday, Senate leaders had yet to announce any agreement that would avoid a shutdown, with current stopgap funding scheduled to run out Friday at midnight.
ICYMI
Pete takes a pass: Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Thursday that he won’t run for Senate or governor in his adopted home state of Michigan next year, a potential sign of presidential ambitions for 2028. “My party has a deep and talented bench here in Michigan, and I am certain that we will nominate an outstanding candidate for each office,” he wrote.
Rogers gets closer: Across the aisle in Michigan, former Rep. Mike Rogers, who lost last year’s Senate race, is getting closer to announcing another run, according to Axios. He’s brought on Chris LaCivita, who co-managed Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, as a senior adviser.
Speaker likes the midterm map: At a Punchbowl News event this week, Speaker Mike Johnson expressed optimism about defying trends and expanding the House GOP majority in 2026. He cited recent demographic shifts in Republicans’ favor, as well as the midterm landscape. “There are 13 House Democrats sitting in districts that President Trump won. There’s over 20 of them sitting in districts he came within 5 points of winning. There’s only three House Republicans sitting in districts that Harris won. So we have a very lopsided map,” Johnson said.
#MNSEN – Melissa López Franzen, a former minority leader in the Minnesota Senate, became the second high-profile Democrat to join the race to succeed retiring Sen. Tina Smith. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan is already running, and other Democrats, including Rep. Angie Craig, are weighing bids.
#KY04 – Trump this week called for Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, the only Republican to vote against the House’s continuing resolution, to face a primary, saying the congressman reminded him of none other than former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney. According to Politico, Massie responded, “It’ll blow over.”
Campaign relaunch: Democrat Rebecca Cooke, who lost to Wisconsin GOP Rep. Derrick Van Orden last year by less than 3 points, announced that she would run again for the 3rd District next year. It marks Cooke’s third campaign, after she lost a primary for the seat in 2022.
Thinking it over: Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage is weighing a challenge to Democratic Rep. Jared Golden in Maine’s 2nd District. LePage, a Republican, served as governor for eight years and lost a bid for a third nonconsecutive term in 2022.
Guv roundup: Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist entered the Democratic primary for what is expected to be a competitive race next year to succeed his boss, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. In South Carolina, Rep. Ralph Norman told Fox News Digital he was “seriously considering” a bid for the state’s open governorship in 2026. Norman had previously been seen as a potential challenger to GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham. Former Maine state Senate President Troy Jackson, a onetime congressional candidate, is exploring a bid to succeed term-limited Gov. Janet Mills. And in Florida, former Rep. Gwen Graham, who lost a bid for governor in 2018 and has been urged to consider running again, said she was “taking some time to figure out what I should do next.” Graham, daughter of the late Gov. and Sen. Bob Graham, is just coming off a stint with the Education Department in the Biden administration.
Rahm running? Rahm Emanuel told Politico he’s considering a run for president in 2028. “I’m not done with public service and I’m hoping public service is not done with me,” said Emanuel, who has worn many hats. from White House chief of staff to mayor of Chicago to ambassador to Japan, since leaving Congress in 2009.
They’re not running: Former Virginia Senate candidate and special operations veteran Hung Cao has now been formally nominated to be undersecretary of the Navy. Cao was the losing GOP nominee against Sen. Tim Kaine last cycle and lost a House bid in 2022. Trump also announced on social media that he was picking Alabama businesswoman Lindy Blanchard, who launched a 2022 Senate bid before switching to the gubernatorial contest, to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization. Blanchard served as U.S. ambassador to Slovenia during the first Trump administration.
Nathan’s notes
Roll Call elections analyst Nathan L. Gonzales writes about the initial House ratings by Inside Elections for the 2026 midterm cycle. It’s a reminder that the campaigning never really stops, and, as Nathan writes, given the size of the current Senate GOP majority and the likelihood of few competitive Senate races, all eyes will be on the battle for control of the House.
Nathan also joined Editor-in-Chief Jason Dick on last week’s Political Theater podcast to talk about how lawmakers in either party choose to respond to White House-led actions.
What we’re reading
Bernie on the road again: Steve Peoples of The Associated Press reports from Michigan on the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. “It’s not about whether Bernie should or shouldn’t be doing this. It’s about that we all should,” New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said of the Sanders roadshow. “But he is unique in this country, and so long as we are blessed to have that capacity on our side, I think we should be thankful for it.”
Vice President of social media: JD Vance has posted on X more than 120 times since taking office as vice president. The Atlantic reviewed his posts and concluded that Vance is using his platform “as a 21st-century bully pulpit to outmaneuver his conservative rivals and liberal critics, and unite the base behind his leadership.”
Constituents’ plea: As Republicans in Congress weigh spending cuts to help enact Trump’s policy agenda, residents in Mike Johnson’s rural Louisiana district are calling on the speaker to protect the safety net programs many of them rely on, NBC News reports.
Rocky for Senate? With Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear not running for the Senate seat being vacated by Mitch McConnell, Democrats in the commonwealth need to look elsewhere. The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that they may turn to Rocky Adkins, a senior adviser to Beshear who previously served in the state House, including more than a decade as majority leader. Adkins hails from eastern Kentucky.
Not your Garden variety race: As the race for New Jersey governor heats up, one name has emerged as a dominant presence on the campaign trail: Donald Trump. The New York Times has more on the contest. Democrats in the race include a pair of House lawmakers, Josh Gottenheimer and Mikie Sherrill, who landed a big endorsement at the Middlesex County Democratic convention on Wednesday.
The count: 1
That’s the total number of House Democratic lawmakers who voted in favor of the Republican-crafted stopgap spending bill earlier this week. It was Maine Rep. Jared Golden, whose district awarded its separate Electoral College vote to Trump.
Coming up
Congress is scheduled to go on a one-week recess next week, which would mark the first extended break for senators this session. But a partial government shutdown could interrupt those plans.
Photo finish
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The post At the Races: We don’t need no Education (Department) appeared first on Roll Call.
