President Trump's dream of closing the Department of Education is impossible without Congress, but that doesn’t mean he has no power to shrink or weaken the federal agency.

While some functions of the department are mandated by law, reports indicate the White House will seek to shift essential programs while drastically reducing department staff.

How far Trump can go will likely ultimately be decided by the courts, as his administration has shown an eagerness to barrel ahead with decisions that ultimately face legal challenge.

“I don't know exactly how small it can be made in terms of numbers,” said Neal McCluskey, director for the Center for Educational Freedom at the Cato Institute. “How many people does it actually require to run each and every program that the department has?”

In the past month, the agency has already undergone big changes, with dozens of employees fired or placed on administrative leave.

On Monday, the department was offering some employees $25,000 to quit their job with an explicit threat of further layoffs coming. It is not clear how many staffers took the offer.

Along with layoffs, millions of dollars in Education contracts have been terminated after staffers with the Department of Government Efficiency gained access to its servers.

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