Executive Order… Now What?

President Trump has signed an executive order directing the closure of the U.S. Department of Education, marking a historic shift in federal education policy. While this move fulfills a longstanding conservative goal of returning education authority to the states, major legal, logistical, and political hurdles remain. 

What the Order Does and Doesn’t Do

According to a White House fact sheet, the directive instructs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take all necessary steps to phase out the department while ensuring “effective and uninterrupted delivery of services.” However, closing a federal agency created by Congress requires congressional action, making it uncertain how much of this order can be implemented without legislative approval.

Reports suggest the department’s core responsibilities may be reassigned to other agencies, but some details remain unclear. Key functions such as federal student loan management, enforcement of civil rights in education, and administration of K-12 funding programs like Title I and IDEA must continue under existing federal law.

In a press event, the President announced that student loan management would be transferred to the Small Business Administration. He also stated that oversight of special education services and nutrition programs would shift to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. These restructuring efforts are anticipated to move quickly in the coming days.

While the restructuring addresses some administrative ambiguity, major questions remain about how these agencies will absorb such responsibilities — and whether they have the capacity or authority to do so.

For context: Kansas and Missouri receive $683 million and $1.6 billion in federal education funding each year, respectively. Of that, Kansas is allocated $115 million and Missouri $262 million in Title I support alone. Read the full executive order here.

What Comes Next? No One Knows for Sure

With Congress yet to weigh in and legal challenges mounting, the timeline for the department’s closure remains uncertain. Although some lawmakers have raised questions about implementation, past efforts to eliminate the department have faced bipartisan resistance.

Expect extended legal and political debates over the future of the department and its core functions. With questions around both executive authority and statutory obligations, resolution is likely to take months, if not years.

For now, the fate of federal education policy is in limbo. Whether Congress will act, whether legal challenges will succeed, and how federal education responsibilities will be reassigned remain open questions.