On March 19, reports from the White House started floating that Trump was going to dismantle the Department of Education. The very next day, Trump signed an executive order for the closure of the Department of Education. Under the order, Education Secretary Linda McMahon will facilitate the closure while giving control to state and local governments.
Despite the executive order, the actual closure of the DoE would require approval from Congress, which requires bipartisan support. It is also facing legal challenges that are being spearheaded by Democratic state attorneys general.
Trump’s Rationale For Dismantling Department of Education
Donald Trump has been beefing with the Department of Education since his first term in office. Trump’s main criticism stems from the baseless rhetoric at the DoE pushing “woke” ideologies. These ideologies allegedly include critical race theory and gender studies, although there is no proof of his claims.
That is on an ideological basis, but Trump’s official reason is “inefficiency.” According to Trump and Musk, the DoE is just a “bloated bureaucracy” that only wastes taxpayers’ money without improving educational outcomes. Trump also believes that education should be handled by states, local governments, and parent bodies rather than a centralized federal agency.
The Invisible Hand Of The Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation has been the backbone of conservative and GOP ideology since the Reagan era. This is true for Trump’s administration as well. Heritage not only acts as a policy base for the GOP but also serves as a pipeline for White House staff. Many prominent Republicans, like JD Vance, Stephen Miller, and Karoline Leavitt, have links to the Heritage Foundation.
The Heritage Foundation has been a critic of the Department of Education since the 1980s. Just like Project 2025, the foundation issued a “Mandate” in 1981. Mandate 1981 called for the closure of the DoE and a reduction in its hold over American education. Moreover, the foundation called on GOP lawmakers to repeal the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to reduce the influence of the DoE on education.
Trump’s decision to dismantle the DoE is inspired by the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, just like his other decisions.
The Truth Behind The Rhetoric
The real reason why Trump wants to gut the Department of Education is not that it’s “woke” or a form of “bloated bureaucracy,” but because conservatives want to keep people ignorant.
Critics argue that Trump, like other authoritarians before him, wants to weaken the capacity of citizens to think critically and make informed political decisions. If people are less educated, they are more vulnerable to manipulation at the hands of demagogues. Progressives, throughout history, have seen these policies as part of a broader strategy to control public discourse and reduce civic participation in politics.
The world has witnessed such things before. For instance, the Bantu Education Act of 1953 in apartheid South Africa aimed to prevent Black South Africans from receiving a proper education. Or in Nazi Germany, where the education system was restructured to instill obedience and anti-Semitic beliefs in young children while suppressing critical thinking and dissent.
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