UPDATED
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday at the White House directing his administration to work to shut down the U.S. Department of Education permanently.
Trump said at the signing ceremony the department has failed to raise test scores or make education in America excel.
“People have wanted to do this for many, many years,” Trump said. “No president ever got around to doing it — but I’m getting around to doing it.”
“At the moment, the impact will probably be minimal. The department doesn’t run schools,” The Wall Street Journal reported.
The order is expected to be immediately challenged in court by various groups, including education unions.
“The House Education Committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., called the executive order ‘reckless’ and argued it would put ‘low-income students, students of color, students with disabilities, and rural students at risk,'” NBC News reported.
“White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday morning that the department would not be completely eliminated under the executive order, saying its ‘critical functions’ would continue, including the enforcement of civil rights laws and oversight of student loans and Pell grants,” it added.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement Thursday that “Education is fundamentally a state responsibility. Instead of filtering resources through layers of federal red tape, we will empower states to take charge and advocate for and implement what is best for students, families, and educators in their communities.”
“Closing the Department does not mean cutting off funds from those who depend on them—we will continue to support K-12 students, students with special needs, college student borrowers, and others who rely on essential programs. We’re going to follow the law and eliminate the bureaucracy responsibly by working through Congress to ensure a lawful and orderly transition.”
While closing the department would take an act of Congress, Trump recently laid off nearly half its staff and has talked about transferring its divisions to other federal departments, such as the Office for Civil Rights to the Department of Justice.
Trump also has already shut down the Education Department’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
“Trump will direct his education secretary, Linda McMahon, to take ‘all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the States,’ according to a White House summary of the order reviewed by USA TODAY. It also calls for the ‘uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.'”
Among those programs that will remain are Title I funding, which helps low-income schools, as well as disability services and student loans, according to a fact sheet given to reporters.
The signing ceremony Thursday is likely to be just the beginning of a long battle, as several states controlled by Democrats are not interested in taking over some of the services handled by the Education Department.
The federal agency began in 1979 under President Jimmy Carter and currently has an annual budget of about $80 billion.
Editor’s note: This post has been updated to include details from the signing ceremony.
MORE: Trump drafts executive order to close down Education Department
IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: President Trump sits in front of flags; WYKC YouTube screenshot
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