President Trump prepares order to close the Education Department

President Donald Trump is reportedly preparing an executive order aimed at eventually closing the Education Department, according to three people briefed on its contents, who said it could be released as early as this week. The department, with approximately 4,400 employees and an annual budget of $79 billion, has broad responsibility over three major areas: managing approximately $1.6 trillion in federal student loan debt, overseeing implementation and enforcement of the nation’s special education law, and administering Title I. It is among the agencies that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is looking at as part of its efforts to overhaul federal bureaucracy. The executive order would shut down all functions of the agency that aren’t written explicitly into statute or move certain functions to other departments. The draft order reportedly acknowledges that only Congress can shut down the department and instead directs the agency to begin to diminish itself, by placing staff on administrative leave, and offering staff the opportunity to take voluntary redundancy. A White House official confirmed that it is preparing for executive action later this month that will fulfill Trump’s campaign pledge to defund the department.