Dismantling of Education Department Is Underway, Drawing Legal Challenges

President Donald Trump has yet to issue an executive order to eliminate the Department of Education or work with Congress to do it, but the process of dismantling the smallest Cabinet-level agency is well underway. Already half of the staff has been cut, along with $1 billion in contracts related to the department’s Education Sciences agency and diversity, equity, and inclusion training. Department offices outside of Washington will eventually be closed to save additional money over time. Trump has also withheld federal education aid from universities that ignored his executive order banning campus diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and anti-Semitic policies. He warned states that the same could happen to K–12 school districts that continue to push progressive ideologies or allow boys to compete in girls’ sports....