President Donald Trump's executive order to dismantle the Department of Education is the first step in removing the "bureaucratic lock hold" on education in the United States, Harrison Fields, the president's principal deputy press secretary and special assistant, said on Newsmax Friday.
"We know the Department of Education has failed in its mission to better educate our children," Fields told Newsmax's "National Report." "We are spending amongst the most money of any developed nation, yet we still are at the bottom of the list when it comes to results."
Trump Thursday afternoon signed the order calling for the dismantling of the department, a longtime target of conservatives. According to the White House, the department will retain certain critical functions, including with student loans.
Fields said Trump's order will move control of schools back to the states, "where states and mayors and governors and superintendents could follow that money directly to the student, where we can see better educational outcomes."
He added that the rest of the particulars in dismantling the department will come from Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.
"This is going to improve educational outcomes across our country," he said. "We are not getting rid of public schools. We are trying to emphasize choice in education."
But innovations won't happen in Washington, as it will happen once money is put in the states' hands "where creativity and innovation can be prioritized for students' future."
Fields also spoke out about the calls from the Trump administration to end the protests and vandalism of Teslas and dealerships from people pushing back against DOGE leader Elon Musk, the owner of the company.
"The violence must end immediately," he said. "Thank God for Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is taking decisive action to deem these attacks domestic terrorism, because that's exactly what they are. Americans in this country who do not like this administration or the work of Elon Musk as a special government employee can take their [anger out] at the ballot box if they want, but you cannot go ahead and do violence to an American company. This is abhorrent. We denounce it."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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