President Donald Trump could soon take the first step in abolishing the Department of Education, as those familiar with the matter say a draft order has already been written.
Sources confirmed with the Wall Street Journal that Trump is expected to issue an executive order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to start the process of closing down the Education Department.
The report from the journal noted that the order could come as soon as today, though an official timeline has not been confirmed.
Eliminating the department would require a vote from the Senate, in which 60 Senators have to approve the action, but Trump can still direct McMahon to begin the process of shutting things down as he looks to shrink the government.
According to CNN, the draft order directs McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Education Department” while being sure to operate with “the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.”
“The experiment of controlling American education through Federal programs and dollars—and the unaccountable bureaucrats those programs and dollars support—has failed our children, our teachers, and our families,” the draft order reads.
Despite Trump’s attempt to shutdown or merge the department with another federal agency, it remains unlikely he will be able to achieve his goal, as it would require all of the Republicans in the Senate and seven senators from across the aisle to vote in favor of doing so.
Trump is not the first Republican to call for the Department of Education to be dismantled, as Republicans have made it a goal as far back as the Reagan administration.
During his campaign for office, Trump often pointed to the department when discussing federal overreach. He also tied it to several cultural issues that have become hot topics in the last decade.
“We will drain the government education swamp and stop the abuse of your taxpayer dollars to indoctrinate America’s youth with all sorts of things that you don’t want to have our youth hearing,” he said.
Last month, Trump said he wants McMahon to do “a great job in putting yourself out of a job.”
“I want her to put herself out of a job,” Trump said last month.
If Trump was successful in abolishing the department, it’s most likely that some programs and funding would be shifted to other agencies in the federal government, back to where they were housed before the creation of the department in 1979.
These programs include the programs that help K-12 schools support the education of students from low income families and those with disabilities. Both programs, and more, predate the Education Department.
However, several other funding programs may be lost, potentially resulting in teachers losing their jobs and students losing out on education.
George Theoharis, a professor at Syracuse University’s Teaching and Leadership Department, told Newsweek last month that while Trump can’t eliminate the department on his own, he can “diminish it.”
“Some districts use [federal funds] to lower class size, particularly for younger kids in first, second, or third grade. If Title I money went away, would that impact class size for some students? It’s possible,” Theoharis said.
The department employed around 4,400 people at the start of this year and has a budget of $68 billion. Some have said that if the department were to be shut down, millions of teachers could see their pay affected.