Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Washington

Image source, Getty Images

Calls to dismantle - or abolish - the Department of Education stretch back long before Trump's return to the White House, all the way back to its inception.

On the campaign trail soon after the department was created, Ronald Reagan described the department as a "new bureaucratic boondoggle" that allowed Washington, rather than "local needs and preferences", to determine how American children were to be educated.

For 43 years, his vision for the department - backed by members weary of "big government" federal control over state issues - went unrealised.

Similar arguments were made by Republicans during subsequent administrations, although a lack of Congressional support made efforts to dismantle or eliminate the agency impossible.

"I do not believe we need a federal department of homework-checkers," then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich told the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in 1995.

Many of the same arguments are being made today - with the added injection of ferocious national "culture wars" that Trump's team has highlighted both during the campaign and while back in the Oval Office.

Now, those Republican efforts seem to have come to fruition, with Trump's signing of an executive order to work towards close the department.

• We're ending our live coverage of this story for now, but you can stay up to date here: Trump signs order to begin dismantling of US education department

Gary O'Donoghue
Senior North America correspondent

Surrounded by more than a dozen young children and a smattering of Republican governors in the East Room of the White House, Donald Trump used a stroke of his pen to set into motion his plans to shut down the entire federal Department of Education on Thursday afternoon.

Getting rid of the agency has been a long-standing aim for Republicans, and many conservative voters will enthusiastically support this move. America does badly in many international league tables in terms of educational outcomes, and Republicans blame the department for that - despite the fact that individual states already control almost 90% of the money that educates children in US schools. Nevertheless, the president wants more power devolved away from Washington.

Even before today's action, the department had seen around half of its 4,000 staff let go - just a week after Congress passed a funding bill including its budget. That money is mainly used to provide support for low-income and disabled children and to administer college grants for those students who need financial support. Trump says those programmes will continue, but be administered by other agencies.

However, like many other recent policy moves of the Trump administration, this one will also be challenged in the courts. Already 20 attorneys general from Democratic states have started the process of lodging objections, and the formal dismantling of the department itself would need an act of Congress - and in particular 60 votes in the Senate, which Republicans do not currently have.

Image source, Getty Images

Former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) CEO Linda McMahon heads the education department in Trump's second administration.

A long-time Trump ally, McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump's first presidency and donated millions of dollars to his presidential campaign.

McMahon has a long history with the WWE and Trump, who used to make occasional appearances at wrestling matches. She co-founded Titan Sports with her husband in 1980, which then became the parent company of WWE later that decade.

She resigned as CEO in 2009 in order to undertake a failed bid to run for the US Senate.

McMahon has little background in education, but did serve on the Connecticut state board of education from 2009 until 2010.

In October 2024, an attorney for McMahon said she "will vigorously defend" herself against accusations filed in a lawsuit that month which claimed she turned a blind eye to child sexual abuse by a former ringside announcer at WWE, according to the BBC's US partner CBS, external. The lawsuit has since been paused, CBS reports, external.

McMahon is not accused of sexual abuse.

Image source, Getty Images

Education secretary Linda McMahon has just spoken to reporters at the White House, following the signing of President Donald Trump's executive order asking her to begin dismantling the Department of Education - the agency which she runs.

McMahon refutes accusations that the order hurts education in the US, saying that Trump's goal is to "improve education" and get dollars "back to the states, without the bureaucracy of Washington."

She was asked on what would happen to specific arms of the department, like those that deal with civil rights complaints within the education system.

In response, McMahon says that the executive order "did not specify what happens with any of the departments within Education," and that she is looking at where some of those responsibilities would best be reallocated.

She suggests that civil rights complaints, for example, could be overseen by the Department of Justice instead.

Asked about the layoffs that have already taken place at the Department of Education, McMahon says the cuts were done "thoughtfully" and to avoid duplication within the agency.

She adds that those who were laid off will get three months of full pay and benefits, as well as severance packages that are "much more generous" than those seen in the private sector.

Image source, Getty Images

A US parents group has slammed President Donald Trump's executive order to dismantle the Department of Education as "shameful."

In a statement, Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, the head of advocacy group MomsRising, says "there is nothing to celebrate about an order that guts the education system we rely on".

"Today's executive order will undermine the success of our students and the viability of our workforce, now and for years to come," she says.

Rowe-Finkbeiner notes that 90% of students in the US attend public schools, and that dismantling the education department will lead to large class sizes, more schools without equipment or books, and end to tutoring programmes.

She adds that these changes will specifically impact students with disabilities.

"Education is a pathway to opportunity and to a workforce, economy, and country that can thrive," she says. "It is deeply disturbing and truly shameful that the Trump administration is destroying that."

Mike Wendling
Reporting from Chicago

Image source, Getty Images

Although today’s executive order fulfils a long-standing Trump campaign pledge, its long-term effects are far from certain.

To officially abolish the Department of Education - whose duties include overseeing federal loans and grants for college and university students - will require action by Congress.

Jill Desjean, director of policy analysis at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, says there's not a huge amount of political appetite in Congress to get rid of the department. And even if it were to be dissolved, there are many questions about if and how the functions currently carried out by the department would continue.

"There's nothing wrong with being more efficient and making things work well for the taxpayer," Desjean tells the BBC. But she says that cuts to Department of Education staff - about half of employees - have happened with alarming speed.

"It's hard to believe that there was very much deliberate thought behind them," she says.

In the short term, Desjean says, students shouldn’t be put off from applying to university or applying for financial aid because of the changes. But the large programmes that the department administers will not be immediately transformed without problems cropping up, she says.

"We want to see some careful thought as to how things would be done to reduce disruption," she says.

Even before today's executive order, the Trump administration said last week it planned to cut the size of the education department in half.

The mass layoffs will affect nearly 2,100 people who are set to be placed on leave from 21 March.

"As part of the Department of Education's final mission, the department today initiated a reduction in force impacting nearly 50% of the department's workforce," McMahon said in a statement last week.

She said the cuts would impact all divisions in the department and were made to "better serve students, parents, educators, and taxpayers".

The agency had just over 4,000 employees when Trump was sworn into office, an announcement from the department states. It has the smallest staff of all the 15 US cabinet-level agencies.

After the cuts, 2,183 people will remain, which included several hundred who retired or accepted a buyout programme earlier this year, the agency said.

Kayla Epstein
US reporter

When Rebecca, a 48-year-old mother from Michigan, needed help for her disabled son, she turned to the US Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights (OCR).

Rebecca's 13-year-old adopted son had foetal alcohol syndrome, ADHD, and other mental health diagnoses that required specialised educational support. She says the school district isolated him for months, with only special education teachers and limited faculty for contact.

In October 2024, she filed a complaint with the OCR alleging the school violated federal disability law and only allowed him to "attend school for two hours per school day and in a 1:1 segregated setting".

Hours were gradually added back to her son's school day, Rebecca said, but he remained isolated. Rebecca had a private lawyer and an education advocate, but an OCR lawyer was facilitating a mediation with the school district as soon as April.

But before that could happen, the Trump administration fired the Cleveland office's entire staff, including the attorney helping Rebecca's son, throwing her case - and others like it - into limbo.

"I don't have any other option for this kid," says Rebecca, who asked the BBC to withhold her last name and her son's name to protect his privacy. "They're playing politics with my little boy. And I don't think that's fair."

Meanwhile, Rebecca has transferred her son to a district school for students with emotional impairments. But she still wants the OCR to negotiate special tutoring for her son, and to educate the district staff about how to help students like him.

She recently learned her son's case would transfer to the still-operating Denver office, but has received no other updates.

Image source, Reuters

Less than an hour after Donald Trump signed the executive order that will “begin eliminating” the Department of Education, we’re already hearing of plans to codify the document.

South Dakota Senator Mike Rounds, who introduced legislation in November to abolish the DoE, says he’s already in talks with Education Secretary Linda McMahon to seal the fate of the department.

"I am working on legislation that would return education decisions to states and local school districts while maintaining important programs like special education and Title I," Rounds writes on X.

"We are discussing this legislation with Secretary McMahon and we believe there is a very good path forward."

• As a reminder, most experts say Trump needs congressional approval to eliminate the DoE. He's also likely to require a supermajority in the Senate, where Republicans have a 53-47 majority – meaning he'd need at least seven Democrats to back his plans.

Kayla Epstein
National digital reporter

Image source, EPA

Trump's executive order, which would only come into force with the approval of Congress and will likely face many legal challenges, has the potential to reshape how children are educated across the country.

Although the department has little oversight over the day to day operations of most schools in the US, it plays a key role in enforcing federal education guidelines and policies.

The Office of Civil Rights (OCR), which enforces US civil rights laws at the education level, was one of the hardest-hit divisions in that first round of firings. The administration shuttered seven of the 12 regional offices, including in major metropolitan areas like New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and San Francisco.

This month the entire staff at OCR's Cleveland office received an email that their unit was "being abolished" – along with their positions.

The news left one Cleveland attorney who worked on disability cases with a "complete feeling of desperation."

The attorney worried not only about the individual cases still underway, they told the BBC.

"The effect of each individual case is sometimes much bigger, in terms of educating the school and making good for the others in the district," said the attorney, who requested anonymity because they feared retaliation from the administration.

"We were already so incredibly flooded with cases," the Cleveland attorney said. "I was never proud of our processing time."

With the new cuts, they said, "This work will not be able to be done."

During her Senate confirmation hearing last month, US President Donald Trump's pick for Education Secretary Linda McMahon confirmed any decision to dismantle the education department would need approval from Congress first.

"We work with Congress, it clearly cannot be shut down without it," McMahon told lawmakers.

The department's allocation was $238bn (£188bn) in fiscal year 2024 - less than 2% of the total federal budget.

The agency says it has about 4,400 employees, the smallest of any cabinet-level department.

Most public funding for US schools comes from state and local governments.

In 2024, the Education Data Initiative estimated that the US spends a total of just over $857bn on primary and secondary education - the equivalent of $17,280 per pupil.

School choice advocates have been celebrating Trump’s executive order.

They believe it is the first step for more freedom for students and parents to move schools, backed by public money.

Tommy Schultz, CEO of the American Federation for Children – a pro-school choice advocacy group – said American education had been centralised “in one of our country’s greatest failed public policies.”

The signing was attended by Tiffany Justice, co-founder of Moms for Liberty, a conservative “anti-woke” group that has also been heavily in favour of expanding school choice.

In a statement, Justice said: "The promise to dismantle the Department of Education is not a new one, however President Trump is the first to follow through... I am proud to stand behind the president to undertake this effort and return education to the states and ultimately give the power back to the parents.”

Mike Wendling
US reporter

Image source, Getty Images

When it comes to school choice, US students have a dizzying array of, well, choices.

Traditionally there have been two main options: state-funded public schools and private schools, often religiously affiliated.

But in the 1980s and 1990s, amid fear of declining standards and failing schools, a growing movement clamoured for more possibilities.

Some districts set up charter or magnet schools. These often operate somewhat separately from the public school system. Some focus on one subject area or are selective – pupils take an entry test or must meet other criteria.

Other initiatives include voucher systems – allowing students to take the public money that would normally be used to educate them in a public school to attend school in a different district or even pay for a religiously affiliated private school.

In some states, students can enrol in schools outside their local areas, and there’s also the growing popularity of homeschooling – where parents and students opt out of the system altogether.

School choice is generally more popular among Republicans, which explains the Trump administrations moves to increase it. But it’s a contentious issue and one that does not break down neatly along partisan lines. Some of the places where parents and students most exercise their ability to choose are big, left-wing Democrat-run cities.

Image source, EPA

An official copy of the executive order President Donald Trump signed earlier has just been released.

Its title is “Improving education outcomes by empowering parents, states, and communities.” Here is a breakdown of what it says:

• The executive order states that the Department of Education has "plainly failed our children, our teachers, and our families" and that closing it will provide children and families an “opportunity to escape a system that is failing them"
• On college student aid, the executive order states that "the Department of Education is not a bank, and it must return bank functions to an entity equipped to serve America's students"
• It orders the secretary of education to "take all necessary steps" to begin the closure of the Department of Education and "retain authority over education to the states and local communities"
• It also asks that any funding by the department is compliant with federal policy, including the termination of any funding related to "diversity, equity and inclusion" programmes
• The order "shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations"

The order does not give a timeline for when this would need to take place, and does not go into detail on what steps Education Secretary Linda McMahon should take to begin the dismantling of the Education Department.

Lisa Lambert
Reporting from Washington DC

Image source, Gett

Ted Mitchell, the president of the American Council on Education, has been warning for weeks that Trump's funding cuts to research, along with the staff reductions in the department, would hurt higher education in the US.

"This is political theatre, not serious public policy,” he said after today’s executive order was signed. “To dismantle any cabinet-level federal agency requires congressional approval, and we urge lawmakers to reject misleading rhetoric in favour of what is in the best interests of students and their families.”

Mitchell continued saying that significant harm had already been done to students and taxpayers by the Trump administration’s “arbitrary and misguided steps to hollow out the department."

He added that one it’s many "critical functions" is "ensuring that student financial aid programs provide millions of low- and middle-income students access to postsecondary education."

The department runs a massive program to provide low-interest loans and grants to help students afford university - both for undergraduate and graduate education. The aid program is expected to continue to exist, but many university students are now wondering in what form, and if this means they may receive less assistance in the future.

Ana Faguy

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

On his own, no.

Not only would Trump need congressional approval to get rid of the department, but he would also probably need a supermajority in the US Senate - 60 out of 100 senators.

Republicans have a 53-47 majority in the Senate, so they would need at least seven Democrats to vote to abolish the agency - a political longshot.

Even in the House of Representatives, Trump would struggle to gain necessary support.

A vote last year to abolish the education department - which was attached as an amendment to another bill - failed to pass as 60 Republicans joined all Democrats in the House to vote no.

Trump has moved to shrink other government departments in recent weeks, despite questions about the legality of those moves.

The Department of Education has just released a statement following President Trump's signing of today's executive order.

It calls the order a "history-making action" that will "free future generations of American students and forge opportunities for their success."

The statement also repeats Trump's claim that dismantling the department will send education "back to the states where it so rightly belongs."

As we reported earlier, a common misconception is that the department operates US schools and sets curricula - but that is done by states and local districts. And a relatively small percentage of funding for primary and secondary schools - about 13% - comes from federal funds.

The statement notes that "closing the department does not mean cutting off funds from those who depend on them," vowing to continue supporting students with special needs, college students and others.

"We’re going to follow the law and eliminate the bureaucracy responsibly by working with Congress and state leaders to ensure a lawful and orderly transition," the department says.

US President Donald Trump has just signed an executive order to shut down the Department of Education - here is a recap of what's just happened:

• The order will "begin eliminating the federal Department of Education once and for all", Trump said, which was met with applause from the audience
• In the audience was Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who Trump hopes will be the "last secretary of education"; also present were Texas Governor Gregg Abbott and his Florida counterpart Ron DeSantis, both of whom also received a shoutout during the speech
• The US hasn't been educating pupils well for a long time, Trump said, adding that everybody knows this is the "right thing to do"
• The shutdown will happen as quickly as possible, Trump said, claiming that the US "spends more money on education by far than any other country" but is "near the bottom of the list in terms of success"
• He praised teachers and said they will be looked after regardless of whether they are in a union or not
• Trump ends his speech by wishing McMahon good luck and says they will find "something else" for her to do

Image source, Getty Images

Trump has just signed the executive order to begin dismantling the Department of Education.

The US president has finished his statement at the White House. Stick with us and we'll bring you the latest developments and analysis.