“President Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Thursday instructing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to begin dismantling the agency, which cannot be closed without the approval of Congress,” the New York Times reports.
“The department cannot be closed without the approval of Congress, which created it.
But the Trump administration has already taken steps to narrow the agency’s authority and significantly cut its work force while also telegraphing plans to try and shutter it.”“Republican attempts to shutter the agency date back to the 1980s. But the push gained steam in recent years after a parents’ rights movement grew out of a backlash to school policies and shutdowns during the coronavirus pandemic.”