When will the lights go out at US Department of Education?

As of Oct. 29, the US Department of Education exists largely in name only. Staffing has been cut by more than half, many of its functions have been shifted to the states or transferred to other federal agencies, and what remains operates under a skeleton budget as the government shutdown continues into what will be its 29th day on Thursday.

President Donald Trump has made no secret of his goal to dismantle the Department of Education, a mission long championed by conservatives dating back to Ronald Reagan’s first budget proposal in 1981. While the department, signed into law by President Jimmy Carter on Oct. 17, 1979 with the passage of the Department of Education Organization Act, has not led to improvement in educational outcomes in America, it is blamed by many fiscal hawks for siphoning off funds that could go directly to states.

During the current shutdown, roughly 466 additional employees were laid off, including most of those who managed special education programs. On Oct. 15, a federal judge in Boston blocked the firings temporarily, citing potential service disruptions for students with disabilities. The administration has identified cuts needed amid the $38 trillion national debt, as well as part of a broader effort to restore federalism by returning education authority to the states and reducing bureaucratic waste.

Eliminating a cabinet-level department entirely, however, is no simple matter. Several lawsuits are pending, including the one in Boston federal court, arguing that the president’s actions exceed executive authority. Although a president can create a department, this theory says, he cannot dismantle one.

Similar attempts to dissolve departments have been struck down before. Even if the legal barriers are overcome, full abolition would require 60 votes in the US Senate to pass enabling legislation. Republican momentum is strong, but moderates like Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana are asking for more details on how student loans and special education programs would transition to the states.

If a bill clears Congress during a Republican lame-duck session after the 2026 midterms, the Department of Education could close by mid-2027. Otherwise, the process could drag out until the end of Trump’s second term in 2029, or not happen at all.

Trump’s allies, including Elon Musk through the DOGE Initiative (Department of Government Efficiency) pushed for an aggressive timeline. The remaining DOGE initiative seeks to eliminate or consolidate federal agencies viewed as redundant, starting with Education. Some programs, such as student loans, may survive within other departments, like the Department of Health and Human Services.

Conservatives have outlined the core reasons for wanting the department gone. They argue that education is not enumerated in the Constitution and belongs to the states under the Tenth Amendment. They point out that after more than $800 billion spent since the department’s creation in 1979, student performance has barely improved. National tests show stagnant math and reading scores even as per-pupil spending has doubled, and the United States now ranks 28th in math globally. They say the DOE is an inefficient bureaucracy that employs thousands but runs no schools, consuming billions in administrative costs.

Critics of the department also note that it now pushes ideological agendas, from critical race theory to gender inaccuracies, by tying federal funding to compliance with leftist “equity” mandates. The DOE shields teachers’ unions, blocks school choice, and resists reforms that would empower parents.

Trump’s plan would convert federal education funds into block grants for states, saving an estimated $80 billion per year while giving governors full discretion over how to spend it.

Opponents of the move, including the NAACP and Democrats, warn that dismantling the department could lead to resegregation, harm students with disabilities, and violate federal civil rights laws. They say, without proof, that poor and rural districts could fall further behind if federal oversight is eliminated.

For now, the Department of Education remains a hollowed-out institution. Its Washington headquarters is half-empty, its programs frozen, and its influence is diminishing. Whether it fully disappears depends on Congress and how far the Trump Administration is willing to go to finish the job.