Department of Education Faces Uncertainty in Coming Days 

Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has indicated that his administration is prioritizing dismantling or at least fundamentally re-shaping the U.S. Department of Education. President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, began her confirmation hearing on February 13, 2025. President Trump publicly stated it is his hope that, if confirmed, Ms. McMahon, “put[s] herself out of a job.” On February 12, 2025, the Department of Education announced President Trump’s nominations for sub-cabinet positions, all of whom will “lead the Department’s critical education reform agenda.” In recent days there have been conflicting reports regarding the status of the Agency, whether it will be dismantled, and what the after-effects may be. Below is a summary of what we know. 

Department of Government Efficiency Makes Cuts at the Department: 

In a February 10, 2025, post on the social media website “X,” the account of the Department of Government Efficiency (“DOGE”), a “workforce optimization initiative” within the Trump administration run by Elon Musk, announced that they had “terminated 89 contracts worth $881mm” from the Department of Education. The account did not give specifics, but claimed that, it had terminated “29 DEI training grants totaling $101mm.” The post provided no details as to the specific contracts terminated.

DOGE has also made clear that it intends to, and has begun, making cuts to the Institute of Education Sciences, an independent research arm within the U.S. Department of Education responsible for gathering and disseminating data about American schools each year. Funding cuts to various IES programs mean that data regarding school safety, reading levels, teaching methods, and more will not be collected by the agency or federal contractors.

As we previously reported, the Administration also appears poised to change the funding priorities of the Department. On January 29, 2025, the President issued an Executive Order, “Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families,” directing the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Education to submit plans to use their discretionary grant authority to support “educational choice.”

Proposals for Elimination of the Department 

On January 31, 2025, Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky reintroduced a bill to dissolve the Department effective December 31, 2026, which is pending in  the House of Representatives for review. The text of Representative Massie’s Bill simply states, “The Department of Education shall terminate on December 31, 2026.”  

The same day, the Department placed at least 60 employees on paid administrative leave, citing the President’s Executive Order banning diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in the federal government. The employees worked in multiple offices across the agency and included civil rights attorneys, public relations employees, and IT specialists.  

Changes Based on Executive Order Requiring Sex-Based Classifications 

Following on the heels of the President’s January 20, 2025, Executive Order recognizing only two sexes, the Department has moved forward with a set of additional proposals to enforce the directive.  

On January 29, 2025, the President signed an Executive Order entitled, “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling,” directing the Department to begin planning to remove federal funding from K-12 schools for any support of gender ideology or discriminatory equity ideology. The plans must also include processes for preventing or rescinding federal funding to K-12 schools who support students in “social transition,” which the Order defines as “the process of adopting a ‘gender identity’ or ‘gender marker’ that differs from a person’s sex.” 

On February 5, 2025, the President issued another Executive Order entitled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” ordering the removal of funds from all educational institutions where “women and girls” are deprived of “fair athletic opportunities” by allowing individuals defined as “male” as defined under the executive order to participate. Based on this order, on February 11, 2025, the Department indicated that it would urge the NCAA to grant titles to female competitors based on Administration directives regarding gender classification.   

While all of these actions to enforce the executive order regarding women’s sports are being implemented, the Department has also rescinded guidance on Name, Image, and Likeness (“NIL”) compensation that required proportionate distribution of funds between male and female athletes. The Biden Administration issued guidance stating NIL agreements between schools and student athletes, which allow student athletes the ability to profit on the use of their names, images, and likeness when used by schools, were like financial aid and were therefore required to be proportionately distributed under Title IX. The Department’s February 12, 2025 press release announced the Biden Administration’s guidance had no support in Title IX. We are actively reviewing this update.

Changing Investigative Priorities

The Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR”) is pursuing investigations that reflect the Administration’s new priorities. On February 4, 2025, the Department announced an investigation into five universities, based on reports of “widespread antisemitic harassment” following protests in Spring 2024 against the Israel-Hamas war. The Universities include Columbia, Northwestern, Portland State, California, Berkeley, and Minnesota. The Department’s announcement said the Universities’ tolerance of the protests violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a provision that protects people from race, color, and national origin bias in programs receiving federal funding as its authority. 

On February 12, 2025, OCR announced it is directing a Title IX investigation into two high school athletic associations in Minnesota and California that announced that athletes will still be allowed to participate in sports based on their gender identity.  

What to Expect Moving Forward

The Department was created by an act of Congress in 1979 to ensure equal educational opportunity, to supplement State efforts, local school systems and other educational institutions, and to promote improvements in the quality and usefulness of education.  The Department, therefore, can only be dissolved by an act of Congress. A number of Department functions are protected by statute, such as Title I’s target to serve lower-income communities, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’s mandate to assist students with disabilities. Even if the Department is dissolved, these programs would likely be shifted to other federal agencies for administration. It is unlikely, though not impossible, that these programs would cease in their entirety. However, these statutes operate as incentives with federal funds conditioned on provision of student supports. If federal funds cease or are withheld, the federal mandates will similarly be impacted.

We continue to monitor the impact of Executive Orders, Congressional Acts, and policy changes within the Department and will provide updates on the impact of any future changes. As always, the Franczek Team is ready and able to assist with any questions, concerns, or policy implementations you may have.