Trump wants to close the Education Department. Here's what to know.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order "to begin eliminating the federal Department of Education once and for all."

Trump acknowledged at the March 20 event that he can’t close the department on his own — he needs the help of Congress, which passed a 1979 law to create the department. 

Trump’s order says, "The Secretary of Education shall, to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law, take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities while ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely."

It doesn’t provide details about how to do it. 

The order said the education secretary should ensure allocation of federal funds complies with federal law, without further explanation. Public schools, with some exceptions, receive the majority of their funding from local and state governments; the department provides about 10% of K-12 school funding.

The order also called for terminating "illegal discrimination obscured under the label ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ or similar terms and programs promoting gender ideology." Trump has promised to rid the federal government of DEI.

Trump signed the order alongside children seated at school desks, with several Republican governors, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and Education Secretary Linda McMahon in attendance. 

Trump said he hoped congressional Democrats would vote in favor of closing the department, but he needs more Republican support, too. Republican-led efforts to shutter the department failed in 2023 and 2024. A 2025 resolution so far has 32 cosponsors.

Trump has long sought to close the Education Department. After failing to achieve the promise in his first term, he revived it in his 2024 presidential campaign, saying, "We're going to send it all back to the states." PolitiFact is tracking his promise to close the department on our MAGA-Meter.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said ahead of the event that a scaled-down department will oversee "critical functions," including student loans and grants for students with disabilities.

At the White House event, Trump touted how his administration has cut the department’s workforce in half and repeated a false statistic comparing U.S. education costs and performance with peer countries.

— Amy Sherman