Advocates slam effort to shut down US Education Department

Rights advocates and Democratic legislators have slammed an executive order US President Donald Trump is expected to sign that seeks to dismantle the US Department of Education.
The Trump administration has secured the release of George Glezmann, an American citizen held in Afghanistan, after talks with the Taliban.Can Trump shut down a government department by executive order?
By law, the Education Department cannot be shuttered without the approval of Congress, and Republicans do not have the votes to push that through.

But Trump and Musk – his billionaire adviser, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – have already dismantled several other agencies, effectively crippling them by slashing programmes and employees.

DOGE’s rapid actions have met pushback in courts for possibly exceeding executive authority.

A similar move to dismantle the US Agency for International Development (USAID), for example, was halted on Monday by a federal judge, who said the push likely violated the US Constitution.White House responds to criticism of Education Dept plan
Speaking to reporters, Leavitt – the White House spokesperson – has rejected any criticism of the administration’s push to shutter the department.

“Where was their criticism of our nation’s failing tests scores for the last several decades?” she responded.

“The Department of Education was founded in the 1970s and since then, we have spent more than $3 trillion at this federal bureaucracy. What has been the return on that investment for the American taxpayer?”

Leavitt said the Department of Education will be “much smaller than it is today” but would still run federal student loan programmes and Pell grants for students in financial need.

“The great responsibility of educating our nation’s students will return to the states,” she added.