‘Educators will be fired’: Republicans cheer Trump order dismantling Education Department as Dems seethe

Republicans were quick to applaud President Trump’s latest executive order to dismantle the Department of Education on Thursday, while Democrats blasted the administration for “betraying our kids.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement, “Attempting to dismantle the Department of Education is one of the most destructive and devastating steps Donald Trump has ever taken. This. Will. Hurt. Kids.”

“This horrible decision by Donald Trump will be felt by teachers, parents, school leaders, and in the quality of education our children receive. Across the country property taxes will go up, while the quality of many schools will go down. Presidents cannot make departments, and they cannot eliminate them either. Only Congress can do that.”

The sentiment was echoed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who said in a statement, “Enabled by compliant House Republicans, the Trump administration is determined to take a chainsaw to public education in America. Shutting down the Department of Education will harm millions of children in our nation’s public schools, their families and hardworking teachers.”

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“Class sizes will soar, educators will be fired, special education programs will be cut and college will get even more expensive, at a time when the cost of living is already too high,” Jeffries said. 

“Donald Trump and House Republicans are crashing the economy in real time. They believe that giving massive tax breaks to billionaires is more important than supporting our public school children. Congress created the Department of Education and only an act of Congress can eliminate it. We will stop this malignant Republican scheme in the House of Representatives and in the Courts,” he continued. 

“The courts must act to uphold the rule of law and stop Donald Trump’s tyrannical power grab.”

Trump signed the order on Thursday after previewing his plan to do so for months. His choice to lead the department, Linda McMahon, was only confirmed by the Senate a couple of weeks prior and is completely on board with the effort, as signaled by her attendance at the signing event. 

“Donald Trump is betraying our kids and families,” said House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass. “Republicans promised to make working families’ lives easier and more secure. Now, they’re taking a chainsaw to our local schools — all to fund tax cuts and corrupt contracts for their billionaire donors. Let’s be clear: Trump and the GOP are unilaterally firing teachers, abandoning students, gutting special education, and forcing parents into a panic just as they’re dragging us into a recession.”

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“I agree with President Trump that the Department of Education has failed its mission,” Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Chairman Bill Cassidy, R-La., told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Since the Department can only be shut down with Congressional approval, I will support the President’s goals by submitting legislation to accomplish this as soon as possible.”

“President Trump has my full support in eliminating the Department of Education. Bring the money back to states and with the students,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., wrote on X. 

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., wrote on X, “The Department of Education has failed its mission because it is promoting everything EXCEPT reading, writing, and arithmetic. President Trump is returning education back to the states and giving power to parents and students.”

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., claimed in a statement, “President Trump’s executive order to gut the U.S. Department of Education underscores how out of touch he is with students, parents, and educators. This order will have negative impacts on every student and harm our economic growth and competitiveness.”

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House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg, R-Mich., said in his own statement, “The key to improving education is empowering parents and students and reducing the role of Washington bureaucrats. Over the last four years, the nation has seen the results of empowering the Department of Education. The Biden-Harris administration discouraged the reopening of schools, encouraged the adoption of discriminatory and divisive curriculum, oversaw the collapse of student performance across the country, repeatedly pushed the student loan obligations of the wealthy onto middle class taxpayers, and pushed a radical gender ideology that has been repeatedly slapped down by courts as unconstitutional.”
 
“We now have a secretary of education, Linda McMahon, who understands the importance of getting the federal government out of the way. And I look forward to working alongside her to get the federal government off the backs of students, families, educators, and taxpayers,” he added. 

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“Bottom line, the Department of Education has failed to deliver results for America’s students and today’s actions by the Trump administration will help ensure our nation’s youth are put first.”

During the signing ceremony on Thursday, Trump explained that “the department’s useful functions such as … Pell grants, title one funding resources for children with disabilities and special needs will be preserved, fully preserved.”  

“They’re going to be preserved in full and redistributed to various other agencies and departments that will take very good care of them,” he said. 

“But beyond these core necessities, my administration will take all lawful steps to shut down the Department,” Trump announced.

The move to dismantle the education department comes amid the Elon Musk-helmed Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) aggressive overhaul to slash the federal bureaucracy.