Trump administration to further dismantle Education Department, move Civil Rights office: ‘Cruelty is the point’

The Education Department has already significantly reduced its staff by half, which has critically hurt the Black federal workforce.

The Trump administration is reportedly taking further steps to achieve its goal of dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, including the extraordinary measure of relocating critical departments and their work to other federal agencies. The moves would effectively leave the Education Department, first created in 1979, unequipped and obsolete.

According to CNN, the White House will soon announce that the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, the Office of Indian Education, the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Office of Postsecondary Education, and the Office of Special Education will be moved elsewhere within the executive branch.

The Washington Post reports that the Office of Special Education won’t be included, despite speculation and the Education Department’s previous consideration of the idea.

However, education advocates and lawmakers argue that any attempts to dismantle the agency are illegal and detrimental to students, their families, and their communities.

“Trump and his administration understand the harm this will inflict on classrooms across the country, but they simply do not care. Cruelty is the point for them, and we’ve said it again and again because this administration does little else but sow chaos and hurt the most vulnerable,” U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., said in a statement to theGrio.

Lee, who is a member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, said the Trump administration’s latest move is a “direct assault on the students, families, and educators who depend on its essential protections.”

Acknowledging the legality of the action by Trump’s Education Department, Congresswoman Lee said, “Even Education Secretary Linda McMahon has acknowledged that only Congress has the authority to eliminate the Department.”

She added, “Our children deserve better than political stunts that jeopardize their futures. And let’s be clear: an uneducated electorate isn’t a by-product of authoritarianism — it’s a prerequisite for it. We will fight back.””

The offices in jeopardy of being moved are critical for protecting and promoting equal access to education, particularly for Black and other minority students, who have historically faced racial discrimination in the classroom.

Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, said the planned announcement by the Trump administration is “cruel,” “illegal,” and “further abandons students.” She also noted the news comes amid American Education Week.

“Not only do they want to starve and steal from our students—they want to rob them of their futures. Nothing is more important than the success of our students, and America’s educators and parents will not be silent as Trump and Linda McMahon turn their backs on our students, families, and communities to pay for billionaire tax cuts,” said Pringle.

“Ensuring a brighter future for our children should be a top priority for any administration, but this administration is taking every chance it can to hack away at the very protections and services our students need. Just last week, they went to the Supreme Court to avoid feeding families. And they’re still pushing to gut healthcare programs. “

Education Secretary McMahon, whom President Trump hired to dismantle the DOE specifically, has notably said she wants to put herself out of a job. She recently argued that the lack of disruption to schools during the federal government shutdown was proof of how “unnecessary” the department is.

The Education Department has already significantly reduced its staff by half (nearly 1,400), which has critically hurt the Black federal workforce.

“Donald Trump’s latest effort to sell off the Department of Education for parts is a thinly veiled ploy to outright eliminate the agency, just like he promised in his Project 2025 playbook,” Democratic National Committee spokesperson Marcus W. Robinson said in a statement to theGrio.

“By empowering his billionaire buddy Linda McMahon to chip away at civil rights enforcement, special education, and programs serving Native students, Trump is once again prioritizing tax breaks for billionaires over America’s children.”

The DNC official added, “Rather than strengthening our public education system, the Trump administration is actively undermining the very institutions designed to ensure that every child in America has a fair chance to succeed.”