Protestors participate in a "study-in" in front of the U.S. Department of Education building in Washington, D.C., on March 21, 2025.

With a stroke of a pen and no apparent constitutional authority to do so, President Donald J. Trump on Thursday ordered the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education.

It was the latest overreach of executive power by Mr. Trump, who has been unmaking agencies and programs without the required authorization by Congress since taking office two months ago. And once again, there is no sign that his fellow Republicans who control both the House and Senate will try to stop him.

Advertisement

Article continues below this ad

Mr. Trump’s goal is to shut down the department while retaining control over more than hundreds of billions of dollars it distributes in Title I funding, Pell grants, student loans and special education funding, along with its civil rights division and other “critical functions.” His executive order reads like a screed against former President Jimmy Carter and teachers unions, and it offers bizarre examples of the department’s supposed inefficiencies.

And where Mr. Trump claims to be returning decisions about education to states and localities, he is clearly using the money and enforcement powers to threaten schools to bow to his........

© Times Union