11. Department of Education · Major · Needs Congress

Eliminate the federal Department of Education

Attempted

Printed page 319 11. Department of Education

“Federal education policy should be limited and, ultimately, the federal Department of Education should be eliminated.”

What has happened

Jun 16, 2026 Attempted
Four more interagency agreements — HHS on special education and rehabilitative services, DOJ on civil rights enforcement, student privacy and training and advisory services — brought the count to 14 partnerships in a year. The Department states it "will retain all statutory authorities and functions"; as of August 2026 it still exists, issues rules and announces grant competitions. The Department has been hollowed out — roughly half its staff gone and most program administration contracted out to other agencies — but nothing has been eliminated: only Congress can abolish the Department, and no closing bill has passed either chamber.
- U.S. Department of Education Announces Additional Partnerships to Strengthen Coordination for Individuals with Disabilities Programs, Bolster Civil Rights Enforcement
  Primary Executive branch Jun 16, 2026
- H.R. 899, To terminate the Department of Education (119th Congress) — referred to committee, no further action
  Primary Congress Jan 31, 2025
Nov 18, 2025 Attempted
Six interagency agreements moved day-to-day administration of most of the Department's grant programs to other agencies: K-12 and most Higher Education Act grant programs to Labor, Indian education to Interior, CCAMPIS and foreign medical accreditation to HHS, international education and Fulbright-Hays to State. The Department kept the statutes, the money and "proper oversight", and continued to publish rules and run competitions. The agreements move who does the work, not who holds the authority: the Department of Education Organization Act and every program statute are untouched.
- U.S. Department of Education Announces Six New Agency Partnerships to Break Up Federal Bureaucracy
  Primary Executive branch Nov 18, 2025
Jul 14, 2025 Attempted
The Supreme Court stayed the preliminary injunction pending appeal in the First Circuit and any certiorari petition, letting the reduction in force and the closure steps proceed. Three Justices dissented, writing that "only Congress has the power to abolish the Department."
- McMahon v. New York, No. 24A1203 — stay of the D. Mass. preliminary injunction granted
  Primary Courts Jul 14, 2025
- Supreme Court docket 24A1203, Linda McMahon, Secretary of Education, et al. v. New York, et al.
  Primary Courts Jul 14, 2025
May 22, 2025 Blocked
The District of Massachusetts entered a preliminary injunction in State of New York v. McMahon, No. 1:25-cv-10601, ordering reinstatement of the RIF'd employees and halting the closure steps. The district court's own order could not be read on an allowlisted source; the Supreme Court's July 14, 2025 order recites its date and case number.
- McMahon v. New York, No. 24A1203 — order granting stay, reciting the May 22, 2025 preliminary injunction (D. Mass. No. 1:25-cv-10601), with Sotomayor, J., dissenting
  Primary Courts Jul 14, 2025
Mar 20, 2025 Attempted
Executive Order 14242 directed the Secretary to "take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education" to the maximum extent permitted by law. Only Congress can abolish the Department, and no closing legislation has passed either chamber.
- Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities (Executive Order 14242)
  Primary Executive branch Mar 20, 2025
- Executive Order 14242 — Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities
  Primary Executive branch Mar 20, 2025
Mar 11, 2025 Attempted
The Department announced a reduction in force cutting nearly half its staff — from 4,133 employees at the inauguration to roughly 2,183 — as "part of the Department of Education's final mission"; it said all statutory programs would continue.
- U.S. Department of Education Initiates Reduction in Force
  Primary Executive branch Mar 11, 2025

Research log

What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence

Research notes

Congress has not acted. H.R. 899 (Massie, 2025-01-31, “To terminate the Department of Education”), S. 1402 (Rounds, 2025-04-09, “Returning Education to Our States Act”), H.R. 2456 (2025-03-27, “Orderly Liquidation of the Department of Education Act”) and H.R. 2691 (2025-04-07) were all referred to committee and went no further. The one Education-Department reorganization measure to reach a chamber calendar moves the other way: S. 5046, which would prohibit transferring the Department’s offices and functions to other agencies, was reported by the Senate HELP Committee on 2026-08-04 (https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-119s5046rs/html/BILLS-119s5046rs.htm). See #825 for the legislative ask.
The litigation trail is a lead, not Evidence: the CourtListener docket for State of New York v. McMahon, D. Mass. 1:25-cv-10601 (filed 2025-03-13), is at https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69732750/state-of-new-york-v-mcmahon/ and would not open for us, nor would the consolidated Somerville Public Schools v. Trump docket. The First Circuit opinion of 2025-06-04 (No. 25-1500) is indexed at https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10598442/state-of-new-york-v-mcmahon/ but the opinion page would not open for us either. The Supreme Court’s own order carries the facts we needed.
The Department of Labor’s 2025-11-18 announcement of the same agreements (https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osec/osec20251118) refused to open for us and is recorded as a lead.
CRS Legal Sidebar LSB11392, “Department of Education Interagency Agreements”, is at https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/LSB11392 — the page would not open for us, so it is a lead.

Action: abolish
Object: U.S. Department of Education
ID: 803