President Trump’s latest executive order marks a major victory for conservative education reform, taking direct aim at the federal Department of Education in a bold move to return power to states and local communities. Signed on March 20, 2025, this order begins the process of dismantling the bureaucracy-laden agency established by Jimmy Carter in 1979.

The order directs an orderly wind-down of the Department while ensuring student loan programs, Pell Grants, and other vital services continue uninterrupted during the transition. This fulfills Trump’s longstanding campaign promise to eliminate what many conservatives view as an unconstitutional federal intrusion into local schools.

Charlie Kirk praised the action as “the final nail in the coffin for the radical teachers’ unions and woke indoctrinators” who he says “used DC bureaucrats to impose their Marxist curriculum on America’s children”. The move aligns with Trump’s shock-and-awe strategy of rapid structural reforms during his second term, bypassing congressional gridlock through aggressive executive action.

While 21 Democratic attorneys general immediately filed lawsuits claiming the order exceeds presidential authority, administration officials counter that the Education Department Organization Act gives presidents broad discretion over executive agencies. The White House plans to transfer remaining functions to other departments by 2026, with student loans moving to Treasury and civil rights enforcement shifting to Justice.