'Assault on America’s children': Experts condemn Trump order to dismantle Dept. of Education

President Donald Trump is now reportedly drafting an executive order to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education, which would fulfill another one of his 2024 campaign promises. Experts are sounding the alarm that Trump's order is illegal and would harm both students and their communities.

CNN reported Tuesday that Trump's pending executive order would instruct the secretary of the Education Department (former professional wrestling magnate Linda McMahon has been tapped to lead the agency) to "create a plan to diminish the department through executive action." Trump's order has been paired with a legislative push from Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) to officially abolish the Department of Education, as any agency authorized by Congress can't be repealed without new legislation being signed into law.

On X, higher education attorney Jay Perk noted that the call to eliminate the Education Department comes directly from pages 285 and 319 of the far-right Heritage Foundation's authoritarian Project 2025 playbook (pages 318 and 352 of the PDF). That document calls on Congress to "shutter [the agency] and return control of education to the states."

READ MORE: 'Gratifying': Project 2025 chief celebrates as Trump executive orders overlap with playbook

"Trump and Republicans are getting rid of the Department of Education ... to ensure state education systems who don’t comply with racist book bans, whitewashed curricula, etc., are starved of any and all aid on which they previously relied," Perk tweeted.

Vanity Fair special correspondent and MSNBC contributor Molly Jong-Fast observed that getting rid of the Department of Education "will ultimately punish people in red states who have less state tax revenue for education spending." As Forbes reported last month, the Education Department provides roughly $18 billion in funding to high-poverty school districts across the country under the Title I program. The agency also funds special education to the tune of $15 billion each year through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Democratic members of Congress are also coming out against the plan. On Bluesky, Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.) warned: "Today it's [the U.S. Agency for International Development]. Tomorrow it's the Department of Education ... Democrats are actively working to stop these illegal acts." And in a Tuesday speech on the floor of the House of Representatives, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) called Trump's order "an assault on America's children," adding that "the president does not have the Constitutional authority to do this."

"We need to rise up and oppose this blatantly unconstitutional executive order. We need to stand up for public education," Khanna said.

READ MORE: Unlikely Trump can actually eliminate Education Department: experts

Click here to read CNN's report in full.