Expect another court battle that Trump will mostly, but not entirely, lose. 
As expected Trump Signs Order to Begin Dismantling Education Department.
President Trump signed a much-anticipated executive order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to dismantle the Education Department, escalating a bitter political fight over the future of the agency.
“See you in court,” Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said Thursday. The union has been a fierce critic of the administration’s push to scale back the agency.
How would Trump’s order change the department?
In the executive order, Trump directed McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure” of the department, “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.” It calls for education authority to be sent to states “while ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs and benefits on which Americans rely.”
Does the order affect student loans or school curriculum?
At the moment, the impact will probably be minimal. The department doesn’t run schools.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday that the department would still oversee major programs including student loans and major funding streams for schools. Trump said during the signing ceremony that many of the agency’s largest programs would be preserved.
Can Trump legally close the department?
He can’t do so entirely on his own and there are open legal questions about just how far Trump can go without Congress. While Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, it is unlikely they would be able to gain support from Democrats to reach a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority to completely unwind the agency.
McMahon, a former head of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term, said during her confirmation hearing that the department clearly couldn’t be shut down without Congress.
One lawsuit by a coalition of Democratic attorneys general asserts that the mass reduction in force has illegally dismantled the department. Another lawsuit, by parents of students with disabilities, says that the cuts means those students’ rights won’t be protected.
There are also two suits that claim that Trump has illegally canceled grants to support teacher quality. Plaintiffs in both those cases have won preliminary victories.
A recent Wall Street Journal poll found about 60% of Americans are opposed to closing the department.
Clever Directive
The directive cleverly says “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.”
That’s an admirable objective in these eyes.
But where are the boundaries?
The Journal notes Plaintiffs in two cases have won preliminary victories in court.
Trump will likely succeed on some points. However, if Trump tries to shut down something authorized and funded by Congress, he will lose those cases in court, and deservedly so.
I say “deservedly so”, despite the fact I approve eliminating the Department of Education, because Trump is not above the law.
Should Congress Eliminate the US Department of Education?
On March 19, I asked Should Congress Eliminate the US Department of Education?
The answer to the question is yes, of course. Let’s discuss why.
Properly executed, I am 100 percent in favor of efforts to abolish the Department of Education. But good luck doing it by Executive Order.
See above link for discussion.
The Legal Approach
Many of Trump’s executive orders can be bundled into a package and passed in Congress on a simple majority reconciliation vote, not subject to filibuster, if only Trump would go that route.
I don’t know if Trump would get everything he wants, but he would get many things he wants.
I propose two separate bills, one for the border and these kinds of actions, and a second one for tax policy.
Meanwhile, I wish Trump success “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.”
However, the courts, not Trump will decide what that means. Republicans could decide if only they would take a legal route.
I can see why this will be a fight. How many billions gets flushed, distributed, burned and corrupted through DOE? A few hundred billion/year I bet. Randi Weingarten needs to get her moolah and bribe others to keep this bs scam going.
Here’s the results of DOE, at least for California –
47% of California 8th graders can read and write at grade level or above and only 35% can perform math by those same metrics.
https://caaspp-elpac.ets.org/caaspp/DashViewReportSB?ps=true&lstTestYear=2024&lstTestType=B&lstGroup=1&lstSubGroup=1&lstSchoolType=A&lstGrade=13&lstCounty=00&lstDistrict=00000&lstSchool=0000000
Mish, I just talked to my Congressman this morning on a show segment and suggested your (excellent) idea on using the reconciliation process to codify a number of Trump excecutive orders. He tells me the packages would need to pass the judgment of the Senate Parlimentarian and could only involve budgeting issues, not policy. Says it’s due to the “Byrd” rule. I need to read up more on this. Just thought you’d like to know the response.Congressman Bentz also adds they’re working to narrow the jurisdictions of federal judges to reduce or eliminate the nationwide injunctions imposed by a inferior court fed judge.
“The Law,” which you revere like a Baptist in ecstasy, is the mechanism by which self-interested parties including Republicans have expanded government for more than a century. It’s childish to imagine that relying on the same mechanism will produce a different outcome.
I admit I’ve gotten way too fond of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MQ-SC9bmp4&list=RD7MQ-SC9bmp4&start_radio=1&ab_channel=Tony
“See you in court,” Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said Thursday. The union has been a fierce critic of the administration’s push to scale back the agency.
Considering the Teachers Union is corrupt…
I thought conservatives were not bothered by corruption. They voted for a felon and they say they are the law and order party. It’s laughable. I’m all for fixing useless regulations and getting rid of corruption, but show us the work…show us the receipts. If there’s corruption, bring it to the table for all to see. Unfortunately, blanket firings without proof of why, creates unnecessary anger and more roadblocks to transparency.
The two major expenditures of the department of education are student loans and transfers to states. Most DOE employees are there to make sure that states and universities aren’t defrauding the federal government by using that funding for unintended purposes. Note that Trump is not proposing cutting either of those major expenditures, just the auditors. Which will dramatically increase opportunities for fraud. Exactly what would be expected from him.
A real man would have a bill introduced in Congress abolishing the transfers (which primarily benefit poorer states) and student loans (which primarily benefit education institutions). Both of which I would fully support. But Trump is a populist, not a conservative.
Trump will lose some, but until he does he will stop funding the liberal states. Without oxygen, until the courts reinstate a partial flow, he will choke them and force them to adjust, cur fat and stop their frivolous spending. Congress should do their job: humble radical judges and the law firms that advised them, and Jack Smith, charging $1500 per hour
“However, the courts, not Trump will decide what that means. Republicans could decide if only they would take a legal route.”
I don’t think the Repubs will want to openly vote on this stuff. They’re happy to let Trump go it alone and claim credit if he is successful. Victory has a thousand fathers, while defeatist an orphan.
Congress “leading from behind!”
“How would Trump’s order change the department?” My answer to that question is: The department will cost the federal government less by employing fewer people. Based on this answer, I think the Trump administration will get its way.
The executive order is vague to be unenforceable so tossed in unconstitutional file.
Trump is losing almost on every EO that is reviewed by the judiciary.
He’ll lose this one too on its arbitrariness,
The EO in this case is not a law. It is direction to the people in Dept of Ed., who are all under Trump’s purview as the Executive. Not sure how a court can declare Trump telling someone to do something to be unconstitutional. We have to wait for McMahon to turn that direction into some act that is then challenged.
An EO is part of the president’s job to faithfully execute the laws. It is an implied power. If the order is vague and arbitrary it violates the 5th and 14th Amendments.
Courts can declare EOs unconstitutional. Judicial review is also an implied power.
There’s much he can do with an EO but it’s essentially just reducing the size and scope of agency actions to a mere shell of what it once was, but he can’t truly kill the agency. From your post: “Many of Trump’s executive orders can be bundled into a package and passed in Congress on a simple majority reconciliation vote”, now THAT’s the “money shot” and needed for true reform. Assuming true reform is what he really wants? DJT has a lot of ego, most prominent folks do – but would running it through Congress reduce his need for “I DID THIS”?
Well, I partially agree with the cancelling the DOE, but its gone too far! Trump has had some good success with migrants, the far to corrupt State Department. He needs to slow down and just work on a few issues. He doesn’t seem to have long range plans. He is using the Demokrat procedure of swarming the court system. But it may not work for him. Voters are confused, especially independents. Who is he working for? As an auditor, Musk needs to work with Managers, turn in your findings and let managers work with it.
This EO along with many others are highly symbolic … with some actual effectiveness too.
Trump’s doing what he can.
Trump’s doing what he can.Trump is effectively doing more…than he constitutionally can.
Education was better, and cheaper, in this country before the Dept. of Ed. Make it fully local again. Thank you President Trump!
Fo a very long time, education was for the elites only. Trying to educate people with some consistency in a country this large takes a big lift. But thinking you can reduce Americans access to education to a voucher program is bit simplistic. The rich will continue to educate their children and the poor will end up homeless. A fair amount of equal opportunity goes along way in maintaining some stability. Now we could just tax the billionaires and use their money to fund the DOE. Would that work for you? Wouldn’t be your money, right?
Sorry to disagree (again!). Having a Federal Dept of Education makes sense as the programs and money spent can be used nationwide for things like: special programs and funding to educate the handicapped; assistance to those in debt due to student loans; various programs that will improve teacher performance. (There are probably better examples but this is off the top of my head).
Giving the money to the states means things like funding charter schools, bibles in the classroom, and local pols looting the grant money. (I’m thinking of Mississippi and Texas, and the like…)
Having worked as a teacher and as a volunteer, there are reasons to help the handicapped and special needs. Its a sorry situation.
We could send then to the Soylent Green tanks.
I’ll take bibles over paying someones debt!
Best to minimize size of Federal Govt and follow 10A.
Sovereign Wealth fund is a horrible idea as well…..(wait until Dem’s get ahold of it)
Government is too big and these agencies were never meant to exist. Shut it down!
The courts decide … Which is very different from Circuit Court diktat. Like the lunatic judge offering her opinion on 30 intersex genders, ranting and raving ,dropping WTFs all over the place, and basically saying it was demeaning to and the erasure of transgenders to remove them from military service. She should be removed from the bench. Its hysteria w/ a dollop of psychosis. So this one goes to appeal and we get to say how deeply mental instability and corruption infects the judicial branch.
There’s a reason it’s called “hysteria”.
https://www.talkspace.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/vibrator-massage-hysteria-feature_736W_JR-1.png
I think Freud called it sadness of the womb. Hystera, ancient Greek, womb.
The good news is that Trump via McMahon should be able to make significant cuts to the agency & drastically pull back on its oversight. She may even be able to move towards block grants. Therefore, the DoE that exists today will be drastically different in four years. Then like everything else, the next administration will undo everything the previous administration did.
At first glance I thought I read Trump vs. McMahon and was looking forward to some mud wrestling!
Trump has at best until the midterms. If Trump and his henchmen/woman continue on their present trajectory, it is almost a sure bet that the Dems will take control of both houses of Congress in response. If they achieve a supermajority, then they will get to work reversing everything Trump has done in his first two years.
Sure, and that’s just the way things go these days.
So, tell us something we don’t already know.
Here’s something you obviously don’t know: America needs “henchmen”.
They’ll be the ones who do the hard work to eventually find the $2T in waste & fraud. Otherwise, we’re F’d.
Go back to your liberal troll house, jojo!
Hoo Boy…America needs Henchmen! Sure thing! Land of the free! Home of the brave Henchmen! Destroy it all and it will be great again! Nihilism is so much fun. There’s a fair portion of Americans who are drawn to constant chaos. Most wars are started by people like that. Conservative used to mean a level of predictability. Liberals are being charged with bringing too much change at once. Now the conservatives are like bulls in a china shop. Chaos and destruction is their new motto.
Bridget, I don’t think you really understand how much money $2T is.
Call them whatever you want, but if the conservatives are able to stick together and start chipping away @ that much money, then of course it’s going to piss off a lot of people in the near-term.
But like we’ve been saying a lot recently, our debt crisis IS NOT 30 years down the road. It’s getting to be just around the corner.
Well even if the courts over turn his order (and his order is pretty vague) he can easily just get around that by simply giving the department itself no meaningful work to do. In other words, cancel anything it over sees, while simply paying people to show up (this is what unions do all the time for teachers accused of child molestation, they aren’t fired, they just sit in a room all day).
Doing that gives the department no teeth and anyone who wants to do something will quit soon after because sitting around gets boring. For those who don’t get the hint, he can keep pressing congress/senate to continue to defund until it’s entirely closed.
I don’t think that solves much if anything.
My approach, bundling all of this is in one reconciliation bill, would solve much.
If you could get such a bill written (with nothing else in it) and get it in front of the senate/congress and finally wrangle enough votes to pass it. That’s a lot of things you need to go right even if it’s obviously the legally correct way to go.
The simpler way is the one I suggested. If forced to keep the department, give them absolutely NOTHING to do and no power. Then see who resigns and watch everyone else who doesn’t to see who breaks any rules out of boredom (surfing wrong internet sites, not showing up for work due to blue flu etc) and use that to fire them. Hostile workplaces absolutely get rid of people. Even if it takes a couple of years to clean them all out it’s worth it.
While government spending is clearly out of control, I hope trump realizes the number of innocent people whose lives will no longer be the same including children.
Agreed. They’ll be much better off.
– “While government spending is clearly out of control”
> Admitting Spending is clearly out of control, is agreeing cuts are unquestionably necessary. If they are over staffed no children will be affected.
– “I hope trump realizes the number of innocent people whose lives will no longer be the same including children”.
> If they were paid, and not working for it, or way overpaid and keeping quiet about it, that’s different. Again however, the children won’t be affected by it.
The goal here is NOT to hurt the Children, but rather to help them. We want the proper amount of Teachers, teaching the proper amount of students. The curriculum needs to match up with what’s being heavily advised by those with the duty and execution of such. While we are at it, leets take this golden opportunity to “Role Out School Choice” across the Country. This should be done immediately, so as to obtain data points, so as to support the expansion, and ability of such, to “ALL FAMILIES” that wish to partake. My guess, it will be a whole lot of them!!!
This is why so many have shied from actually examining and cutting government excess. There will always be sob stories that the media will focus on making the cutee(es) look like the bad person, always someone or actually some many someones that will be negatively impacted by spending cutbacks.
The only way to successfully accomplish this is via a completely disinterested entity, which is where our future AI Overloads enter stage right.
Congress should empower a commissioner of cuts and that commissioner should be me.