Trump parrots GOP rivals’ calls to abolish the Department of Education: report

Indicted ex-President Donald Trump released a new campaign video on Wednesday in which he calls for abolishing the United States Department of Education, CNN's Kate Sullivan and Katie Lobosco report.

"We're going to end education coming out of Washington, DC. We're going to close it up – all those buildings all over the place and people that in many cases hate our children. We're going to send it all back to the states,” Trump said in a four-minute address posted to Rumble.

Trump, CNN notes, also "outlined several other education priorities for a potential second term, including introducing prayer in public schools, teaching children to 'love their country' and increasing access to internships for students. Trump has said he wants to allow parents to control where their child goes to school and give parents and local school boards the ability to hire and fire school principals."

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Although scrapping federal education standards has been a "long-held Republican goal that has been endorsed by several other 2024 GOP candidates," CNN explains that "eliminating" the DOE "would not necessarily give any more power to states over K-12 schools. While the federal agency helps the president execute education policies, the power to set curriculum, establish schools, and determine enrollment eligibility already lies with the states and local school boards."

CNN recalls that "Trump has been floating the idea of eliminating the Department of Education since his 2016 presidential campaign. When Trump was president, his administration proposed merging the Education and Labor departments into one federal agency as part of a larger plan to restructure the government. The proposal needed approval from Congress and was never implemented. Trump, as president, also tried to cut billions of dollars from the Education Department's budget."

CNN adds that "various Republicans have called for eliminating the Education Department since its establishment as a Cabinet-level agency in 1980. Among Trump's rivals for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum have endorsed the idea."

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Sullivan's and Lobosco's analysis is available at this link.