According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, US President Donald Trump is preparing a decree to abolish the US Department of Education. This could be signed as early as March 6. Education Secretary Linda McMahon has been instructed to take all necessary steps to close the department within the limits of the law.
McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, was confirmed as education secretary just this week. She was a key supporter of Trump during the presidential campaign.
Trump has repeatedly expressed his goal of giving more autonomy to individual states in the education sector, both during his first term and in the campaign. He has argued that the department, with its bureaucracy and centralized programs, has failed. McMahon was told to “make herself unemployed”.
It is reported that the department will be closed as far as the law allows. McMahon has already prepared her staff for the education policy to be handed over to the states in the future.
The US Department of Education, the smallest federal agency in the US, currently employs around 4,500 people. However, Trump cannot completely abolish the department. Such a move would require the consent of the US Senate, which would need the votes of at least 60 senators.