President Donald John Trump cannot abolish the Department of Education (DOE) with an executive order.
To begin with, those types of orders do not "outrank" laws.
The DOE was created by a bill, signed into law by then-President Jimmy Carter in 1979.
It's understood most conservatives don’t like the DOE or the Jimmy Carter presidency.
Unfortunately, neither has anything to do with the current reality we find ourselves in.
The reality is that the DOE isn’t going anywhere without legislation to repeal it.
As conservatives, we should all be happy about that.
If the executive pen (and phone!) had the power to usurp the will of Congress, the Constitution would be treated with even less regard than it is now.
The president knows all of this.
He also knows that the lockdown mandates that followed the COVID-19 pandemic facilitated a rise of outrage among parents who were unexpectedly exposed to what their kids were learning.
The role of government in education became a hot button issue after it became an unforeseen consequence of lockdowns.
Angry parents took to school board meetings and rightly confronted board members in public forums.
The Department of Justice under Joe Biden ratcheted things up further when Attorney General Merrick Garland instructed the FBI to target parents who were raising legitimate concerns.
Trump knows those parents want to see something done and he gave them voice with his signature. That signature signified retribution from parents against the bureaucracy that is the Department of Education.
Trump also knows that his powers are limited by the Constitution, which is why his Executive Order doesn’t make any reference to abolishing the DOE.
However, it does say he is instructing the Education Secretary "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."
Of course, the Department can't be abolished.
Trump’s calculus is that it can be gutted and hopefully allowed to bleed out. The executive order certainly lays out the terms for reducing the size of the department.
He's certainly within his rights to issue reduction in force (RIF) and lower the employee headcount there. Conservatives and angry parents may see this as a huge victory.
Whether it is or not remains to be seen but the elephant in the room is that laws outlive presidents.
Unless the law is repealed or significantly changed, monetary air in the form of tax dollars will be waiting in the wings for another president with a different ideology. When that happens, you can expect the DOE to get the shot in the arm it will be looking for by then.
This is the nature of political cycles.
Just as the DOE was born out of the Carter administration's vision, it can just as easily be revitalized by a future progressive administration eager to restore or even expand its influence.
The debate over federal involvement in education is far from settled, and while Trump’s move may be symbolic, the true battle lies in legislative action.
Without congressional repeal or defunding, any executive actions will have limited, temporary effects.
Moreover, while reducing federal oversight may sound appealing, returning full control to the states does not guarantee improved educational outcomes.
Some states may use newfound autonomy effectively, while others may struggle with funding disparities and policy inconsistencies.
The real question is not just whether the DOE should be minimized but how to ensure that any shift in control leads to better educational standards and opportunities for all students.
Ultimately, this executive order is a political statement, a nod to a key voter base, but it does not change the fundamental reality: lasting reform requires legislative consensus, something that remains difficult in today’s polarized political environment.
The law that established the DOE has survived seven presidents over 45 years.
It will survive the second Trump presidency as well.
Any future incarnation of the Department after that will reflect the political will of the American people.
That's how it should be.
Jim Renacci was raised in a blue-collar union family, pursuing the American dream, leading to his operating over 60 businesses, creating 1,500 new jobs, and employing over 3,000 people. As a four-term conservative U.S. congressman, Jim served on the powerful U.S. House Ways and Means and Budget Committees, cutting government spending. Read More of Jim Renacci's Reports — Here.
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