Trump Weighs Eliminating Department Of Education Entirely As Staffers Are Put On Leave Without Explanation

President Donald Trump‘s administration is preparing to take executive action as it explores cuts to programs in the U.S. Department of Education – and possibly eliminating the department altogether. This comes after dozens of Education Department staff were put on paid administrative leave on Friday.

Staff were given a vague explanation as to the reason for their leave. Some could only speculate that their attendance at a training program related to DEI initiatives was the cause. In recent weeks, the Trump administration has ordered a sweeping crackdown on all federal DEI initiatives.

The Department has around 4,400 employees and an annual budget of $79 billion. Its responsibilities include managing trillions in federal student loan debt, overseeing the implementation of the nation’s special education law and directing Title I to improve outcomes for lower-income students. Tech billionaire Elon Musk took to X on Monday, saying that he believes Trump “will succeed” in dismantling the department.

“Reagan campaigned on ending the federal Dept of Education, which was created by Carter in 1979, but it was bigger when Reagan left office than when he started!” Musk said. Trump has called on Congress to close the department entirely because it cannot be closed by executive action alone.

House Republicans have tried to close the department before and failed. Currently, Republicans hold a narrow majority in the House and Senate. On Friday, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) reintroduced H.R. 899, a 2024 bill “to Terminate the Department of Education.”

”Unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. should not be in charge of our children’s intellectual and moral development,” Massie said. ”Parents have the right to choose the most appropriate educational opportunity for their children, including home school, public school, or private school.” 

The Senate Committee is set to hold a confirmation hearing for Trump’s Department of Education Secretary nominee, Linda McMahon, in the coming weeks. The Co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment, McMahon was recently under legal fire in 2024 after being named in a lawsuit as a negligent employer who failed to protect children from sexual abuse in 2009-12.