Education Secretary Linda McMahon spoke about her department’s mass layoffs on Tuesday, saying that cutting staff was a directive from President Donald Trump as she looks to shut down the department.
McMahon shared her remarks while appearing on Fox News, noting that closing the Department of Education has been a long-time goal of not just Trump but the Republican party as a whole.
“Actually, it is, because that was the president’s mandate,” McMahon said. “His directive to me, clearly, is to shut down the Department of Education, which we know we’ll have to work with Congress, you know, to get that accomplished.”
She went on to say that the layoffs that cost around 1,315 federal workers their jobs on Tuesday was an important step in accomplishing their goals.
“But what we did today was to take the first step of eliminating what I think is bureaucratic bloat, and that’s not to say that a lot of the folks, you know, it’s a humanitarian thing to a lot of the folks that are there… They’re out of a job,” she said.
The Tuesday layoffs just about halved the department’s workforce, as only 2,183 employees still have their jobs. The cuts were said to be focussed on unnecessary or reductive teams, a senior aide familiar with the matter shared with CNN.
The reduction in the department’s staff is not expected to impact the Free Application for Federal Student Aid forms, student aid, operations for students with disabilities, civil rights investigations, or formula funding to states.
In the interview, McMahon said that she made certain the right people were kept, in order to ensure things keep operating that affect Americans.
“But we wanted to make sure that we kept all of the right people and the good people to make sure that the outward facing programs … the grants, the appropriations that come from Congress, all of that are being met, and none of that’s going to fall through the cracks,” McMahon said.
As McMahon shared in the interview, for the Trump administration to eliminate the department, they will need action from Congress, which includes 60 votes in the Senate to avoid the filibuster.
While many have been critical of Trump for targeting the department, McMahon said that the plan to cut the department isn’t “taking away education.” In fact, she says it will lead to students having higher test scores.
“He’s taking the bureaucracy out of education so that more money flows to the states. Better education is closest to the kids, with parents, with local superintendents, with local school boards,” McMahon said.
“I think we’ll see our scores go up with our students, and we can educate them with parental input as well,” she added.