Summary
The White House is drafting an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, aligning with Trump’s long-standing pledge.
However, Congress must approve the agency’s abolition, making its passage unlikely despite GOP control. Critics, including the National Education Association, warn this move would harm students, increase costs, and weaken protections.
GOP lawmakers have repeatedly attempted to eliminate the department since its 1979 founding.
Trump also recently signed an order expanding school choice, reinforcing the Republican agenda of decentralizing education policy.
Education is Fascisms biggest enemy. That’s why.
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It might be worth mentioning that Andrew Johnson signed the Department of Education into law in 1867. It was elevated to a cabinet position in 1979 by Carter from it’s previous position within the Department of Health, Education, And Welfare.
The idea that the government has a constitutional interest in fostering the education of the public is NOT a new thing contrary to what conservatives would have you believe. An educated populace is an essential function of a representative democracy.
But an educated populace is anathema to the ruling class.
In a democracy the people are the ruling class.
In case anyone is still wondering if Republicans are enemies of the United States of America, you need not wonder anymore.
The executive order’s a symbolic gesture—Congress won’t scrap the Department outright. But the subtext? Steady erosion. Shift student debt oversight to Treasury, pare back civil rights investigations, let federal education funds atrophy. States then fill the vacuum: red ones push vouchers, defund “woke” curricula, blue ones scramble to plug gaps.
The playbook’s transparent. Undermine trust in public institutions, then offer “choice” as salvation. Rural GOP districts take the bait, then recoil when their Title I lunches and special ed services evaporate. Even conservatives quietly rely on federal data systems and grant streams—hypocrisy’s baked in.
Latest school choice expansions? Distraction tactics. Real damage accrues in the margins: disabled students lose protections, civil rights complaints backlog, teacher retention plummets. ED’s survived 40 years of GOP vitriol because dismantling it’s all optics, no payoff.
Predictable cycle. Provoke outrage, let chaos incentivize privatization. Rinse, repeat.
Congress doesn’t need to be okay with it if Elon’s cronies waltz in and kick everyone out.
It’s crazy that people still don’t seem to understand this.
Ah, the classic “just do it anyway” approach. Cute, but federal agencies have this pesky thing called statutory authority. Even Elon’s crew can’t magic away the Administrative Procedure Act. Though watching them try would be… entertaining.
What about the last eight years has made you think these people will follow the rule of law?
adjusts reading glasses, sips coffee
Look, I get the revolutionary fervor—very 2025 energy. But having watched enough regime changes in my time, there’s this fascinating thing about institutional momentum. Even when someone kicks in the door waving the proverbial .44, bureaucracy has its own gravity.
Sure, the last eight years showed some… creative interpretations of executive power. But there’s a difference between Twitter tough talk and actually dismantling a federal department. Those career civil servants? They’ve survived multiple “this time it’s different” moments.
Not saying the system’s perfect—hell, it’s a mess. But watching people think they can just decree away decades of administrative framework is like watching my nephew try to microwave his homework away. Entertaining, but not quite how things work.
Then again, what do I know? I just watch the pendulum swing.
I understand your argument. But the entire premise is grounded in the assumption of courts upholding precedent and not letting an executive operate outside the confines of the law. The president has immunity. Congress is ineffectual at best and actively evil at worst. I mean for fucks sake, the current occupant of the White House lead an attempted coup and is still being permitted to sign, enact and decree legislation. If the checks and balances in our system were functioning, I’d be willing to get in line with you. But it’s so painfully clear that they are not.
taps pen on desk, stares into middle distance
You know what this reminds me of? Nixon’s impoundment crisis. Back in '73, he tried to just… not spend congressionally appropriated funds. Thought executive authority trumped everything else. Ended with the Budget Act of '74 and a whole new framework of constraints.
Or consider Reagan’s attempt to abolish the Department of Energy. Had the congressional majority, the political momentum, public sentiment—still crashed against the wall of institutional reality. Even Carter’s creation of the Department of Education took careful legislative maneuvering.
The system’s definitely more brittle now, no argument there. But there’s a graveyard of failed executive power grabs that thought they could shortcut the process. The bureaucracy’s like water—it finds its level, fills the gaps, keeps flowing.
Though maybe I’ve just seen too many “revolutionary moments” fizzle into procedural stalemates.
The executive order’s a symbolic gesture—Congress won’t scrap the Department outright.
You’re wrong. They will not wait for Congress to do anything.
Who the fuck is going to stop them, you?
The courts, actually. Been there since Nixon tried similar stunts. Administrative state’s got more staying power than most realize. But hey, doom scrolling’s more fun than reading SCOTUS precedents.
We already have precedent for a president ignoring a SCOTUS decision (Andrew Jackson).
Does the Supreme Court have some kind of secret police force that makes sure the other two branches of the government follow their rulings?
In fascism, might makes right, and the person with the biggest guns/army gets what they want, or else they just fucking kill you.
Jackson’s precedent created a constitutional crisis that haunted executive power for generations. But let’s ignore history because “guns solve everything,” right?
And no, SCOTUS doesn’t need secret police when they have the entire administrative state’s inertia. The machine keeps running because people show up, file papers, and follow procedure—not because someone’s pointing weapons.
Jackson’s precedent created a constitutional crisis that haunted executive power for generations. But let’s ignore history because “guns solve everything,” right?
Eh? Do you think I was agreeing with Jackson (or in this case Trump), or condoning it?
It’s just history.
And no, SCOTUS doesn’t need secret police when they have the entire administrative state’s inertia. The machine keeps running because people show up, file papers, and follow procedure—not because someone’s pointing weapons.
Speaking of history, it seems like you need to learn some things (or refresh your memory). Because this is exactly how society has always worked. The majority of human civilization has been this.
Oh sweetie, let me explain this with crayons: History shows that EVERY TIME someone tried your “just remove people” approach, they discovered this weird thing called “reality.” You can’t run a modern state with just guns and machismo.
You know what happened when your heroes tried that? The trains stopped running. The power grid failed. The sewage backed up. Because—surprise!—it turns out those boring bureaucrats actually DO things. Important things. Like making society function.
But please, tell me more about how you’ll “physically remove people.” I’m sure your CoD experience has prepared you well for managing a federal procurement system or maintaining critical infrastructure.
This isn’t your high school parking lot. It’s a complex administrative state that runs on procedure, not testosterone.
I’m so sorry, Americans. I’m not sure who is even able to liberate your country. You and the Russians liberated the camps in Europe at the end of WW2, but who’s there for you? I think you might need to liberate yourself. Again. I’m sorry. Good luck
Good luck to your kids and grandkids, education is fucked. Back to the feudal times where only royalty and the rich were educated. If this passes I am not paying student loans anymore. The department that issued them will be gone so why pay.
That loan will just get transferred to DOGE dont worry.
I mean that’s the point right? It took a lot of work to get the populous this dumb. Imagine what those that have risen to power can get away with if we make people even dumber!
I was going to ask if this means I no longer have to pay back my student loans, but of course I know better than that.
The debt that the government owns would be sold to private lenders and the whole situation will get dramatically worse.
Yeah probably… I’m also ~1 year of payments away from Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Just waiting for the letter/email telling me they’re clawing it back.
Most of my student loans are with a private lender anyway, and it’s 1000x worse than the federal loans. They don’t even have repayment plans. If you can’t pay the minimum (which doesn’t even cover the entire principal), well fuck you too bad
Keep people dumb. Write their own history to “educate” the dumb. Sounds about right.
Knowledge is power, and the GOP can’t have educated people around…gotta keep that shit in check and keep our kids stupid so they can’t ask questions, you know?
US Healthcare system is the worst in the world by any measure from cost to outcomes
Republicans: lets do the same to the education system.
If NBC thinks he needs an act of Congress then they haven’t been paying paying attention to USAID.
Who the fuck am I kidding, they know damn well what’s going on and refuse to print it.
Remember when Bush pushed the “No Child Left Behind Act”, and we all realized the federalization of control over education was deeply problematic and removed democratic control over education? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
The government not handling every social function in society isn’t scary on its own. That in combination with the people as a whole having no control over the economy is when that becomes nasty (i.e., economic inequality). That is of course the vision of the ruling class.
Remember when Bush pushed the “No Child Left Behind Act”, and we all realized the federalization of control over education was deeply problematic
Yeah, that’s not the lesson I learned from that…
This is one people should seriously protest to fucking stop. Education is the one thing that levels the playing field for people across different socioeconomic backgrounds. Get on the phone to your representatives, this is the main one they were working towards and wanted to distract from!
Education is the one thing that levels the playing field for people across different socioeconomic backgrounds.
Exactly, and that’ll be why it’s one of the first things they want to piss all over.
I can’t fucking tell if this is a joke or not
I assure you that this is no joke.
I had no idea the
DOEfederal Education Department was that recently created. Having grown up in a deep red state I feel like a veil was suddenly lifted from me, and now I can see how even more fucked up my older relatives’ education must have been compared to mine (already pretty fucked up!).DoE was founded in 1867.
The planned order follows years of campaign promises from Trump to abolish the federal Education Department, which was established in 1979, during President Jimmy Carter’s administration.
Oops, mixed that up with the federal Education Department. Thanks for the correction!
