McMahon Unveils Plan to Work With Congress to Dismantle Education Department
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Education Secretary Linda McMahon is moving forward with a sweeping plan to work with congressional leaders to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, redirecting authority back to states and local school systems.
Speaking exclusively with The Daily Signal, McMahon outlined her strategy to break apart the massive federal agency through a series of targeted legislative measures. The goal is to shift responsibilities for education policy and funding away from Washington, restoring decision-making power to state governments.
“The Department of Education has grown too large, too bureaucratic, and too disconnected from parents and local communities,” McMahon said. “Our plan is to return education to the states where it belongs.”
Rather than seeking a single sweeping bill to eliminate the department, McMahon is advocating for an incremental approach: dismantling the DOE piece by piece. She believes this will make the process more manageable in Congress and harder for opponents to block.
“This is not going to be one big package,” McMahon explained. “It’s going to be multiple bills that move programs where they truly belong.”
House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg supports McMahon’s approach, calling it “a common-sense path to reduce federal overreach.” Rep. Burgess Owens also praised the plan, saying it aligns with the conservative priority of empowering parents and reducing Washington’s role in schools.
McMahon’s plan gained momentum after the Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of the administration’s authority to reorganize and downsize federal agencies. That ruling paved the way for the Education Department to proceed with cutting approximately 1,300 positions—a major step toward McMahon’s goal.
Key functions such as federal student loan servicing and special education oversight will not disappear. Instead, McMahon plans to transfer those programs to agencies better equipped to handle them. Student loan management could shift to the Treasury Department or the Small Business Administration, while special-needs programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) may move to Health and Human Services or the Department of Labor.
The White House is preparing a second spending clawback package targeting DOE funds, according to Politico. The proposal follows a $9 billion rescission package earlier this year, which cut non-essential programs including public broadcasting and foreign aid. The administration is expected to push similar fiscal measures to reduce DOE’s footprint.
Conservatives have long argued that the Department of Education, created in 1979, adds layers of bureaucracy without improving outcomes. Critics point out that despite hundreds of billions in federal spending, student achievement has stagnated for decades.
McMahon echoed those concerns, calling the DOE “a costly failure that has centralized power at the expense of parents and teachers.”
The plan aligns with Republican priorities of restoring state control over education decisions. GOP leaders believe states are better positioned to craft policies tailored to local needs, without mandates from Washington.
“Parents and local leaders, not federal bureaucrats, should decide what’s best for kids,” McMahon said.
Congressional Republicans are expected to begin drafting bills that would transfer specific DOE programs to other agencies or state governments. McMahon has pledged full cooperation with lawmakers to ensure a “smooth, orderly transition.”
While Democrats and some moderate Republicans argue that the changes could undermine protections for students, the administration insists that essential programs will remain intact—just under different oversight.
President Trump made dismantling the Department of Education a key priority in his second term. Earlier this year, he signed an executive order instructing McMahon to “facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority to the states.”
“I told Linda, make yourself unnecessary,” Trump joked at a press briefing earlier this year. “And she’s doing just that.”
Conservative Opinion: This move represents a long-overdue correction to decades of federal overreach. Education decisions should never have been centralized in Washington. McMahon’s plan is not only about dismantling a failing bureaucracy but restoring constitutional balance. For too long, unelected bureaucrats have dictated policies that undermine parental authority, promote controversial agendas, and waste taxpayer dollars. By returning education to the states, we return it to the people, where it belongs.
If Congress moves forward, the Department of Education could become the latest federal bureaucracy to face historic downsizing—marking a significant victory for conservatives who have long called for its elimination.
