President Donald Trump announced on March 20, 2025 that he planned on dismantling the Department of Education. This has the goal of bringing responsibilities of different educational programs to the states as part of his conservative political views. This party believes that states should hold more power than the national government, and by dismantling the department decisions will return to states. The same day Trump signed an executive order that directed the Department of Education to take all possible steps to prepare for closure, according to whitehouse.gov.

When Trump was elected and took office for his second term on Jan. 20, 2025, the Department of Education had 4,133 workers in its work force. On March 11, 2025, it was announced that roughly 50% of the workers had been laid off, causing major reorganization within the agency, according to ed.gov.

It was announced Nov. 18, 2025, that six responsibilities that were previously held by the Department of Education would be transferred to four other departments. This is meant to be a proof of concept to show Congress how changes can be made, according to politico.com.

The Department of Labor is taking on the responsibility of federally administering kindergarten through high school programs. The goal of this is to streamline education and workforce efforts along with making sure these programs align with college and work programs. The Department of Labor will also be given control over post-secondary education and worker development. This will include grant programs allowing greater access to career training, due to the labor shortage throughout the U.S. for skilled jobs, according to ed.gov.

The Department of the Interior will take over responsibility for Native American education programs related to elementary and secondary education, higher schooling and career education was transferred to the Department of Interior. The Department of Education explains that this is in order to make the agency more of a key point of contact for tribes and Native students, according to ed.gov.

The Department of Health and Human Services is taking over the responsibility of determining whether the licenses of foreign medical schools are equal to those of other medical schools. They are also taking control of regulating on-campus care for children of people enrolled in college. The department was previously in charge of supervising grants focusing on care for children. Giving the department these extra powers has the goal of improving efficiency and providing clearer guidelines, according to ed.gov.

The Department of State will be given control over improving foreign education programs while also implementing national security priorities. The intent of this change is to increase funding and national security interests, according to ed.gov.