Trump can't end the Department of Education without Congress but what programs can he curtail?

President Donald Trump and his administration are reportedly considering issuing executive actions or orders that would effectively shut down the Department of Education. While he can’t close the agency without Congressional approval, it doesn’t mean his acts can’t have a big impact.

Trump and members of his administration, notably Elon Musk the head of the Department of Government Efficiency that has chipped away at other agencies, have reportedly drafted an executive order that acknowledges only Congress can shut down the DoE but still instructs it to begin diminishing itself, according to the Washington Post.

The department’s key functions, such as providing grants for low-income students, providing guidance to serving students with disabilities, enforcing civil-rights law and the federal student-loan program are codified in the law that establishes the DOE.

Two of the most important functions of the DOE - providing $15.6 billion to lower-income communities and $15 billion to help districts provide for students with disabilities - are protected by statute.

While the DOE provides funding for public schools, it accounts for less than 10 percent of the nation’s public school funding.

Here are some ways Trump could significantly change the DOE:

open image in gallery

One proposed way Trump could revoke power from the DOE is by moving some of its functions to other departments. That move would keep certain programs that were established by Congress.

Project 2025 - the think-tank right-wing outline that has seemingly become the Trump blueprint - suggests moving federal aid programs such as Pell Grants to the Treasury Department and civil rights enforcement to the Department of Justice. However, it is unclear if that would require congressional action.

Under Trump’s anti-DEI executive order, the federal government is prohibited from funding programs or policies that promote diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion which could leave some scholarships vulnerable.

open image in gallery

Already, dozens of DOE staff have been placed on paid administrative leave because of Trump’s executive order to eliminate DEI programs. At least 55 employees received an email pursuant to the executive order, according to The Associated Press.

But to leave the department with little power, Trump and his administration could slash the DOE workforce even further in the same vein as it did with the U.S. Agency for International Development and deactivate emails or tell employees not to come into work.

Millions of federal employees have been offered buyouts as well. Staffers in the DOE could be incentivized to take the deals.

The DOE has a relatively small number of employees with slightly more than 4,200 workers.

“Effectively shutting down the Department of Education through Executive Order or mass firings is a recipe for chaos that will disrupt the lives of students across the country,” Aaron Ament, a former Obama administration official, told the Post.

“Trying to do so without Congress is not only shortsighted but illegal and unconstitutional,” Ament said.

At least some DOGE staffers have gained access to DOE internal systems, including some related to federal student aid programs, according to the Post. This could allow the organization to make suggestions to Trump that could lead him to issue more executive orders that cut back spending.

Executive orders aimed at reducing DEI and expanding school choice also call for a reallocation of federal spending which could mean the government provides less funding to DOE.

Any action Trump takes to significantly reduce the DOE will likely be met with legal challenges, much like his previous executive orders that offered sweeping policy changes.