Trump’s Playbook to Gut the Education Department

February 19, 2026 - 18:24

Despite Congress continuing to appropriate funds, the Trump administration is actively pursuing a multi-pronged strategy to systematically reduce the federal Department of Education to a shell of its former self. This effort, detailed in internal plans, relies on leveraging executive authority to circumvent legislative opposition.

The central tactic involves a drastic reassignment of the department's core functions and personnel. Key objectives include transferring student loan operations to the Treasury Department and relocating research and civil rights enforcement staff to other agencies. This bureaucratic reshuffling aims to disperse the department's mission until its operational footprint is negligible.

Simultaneously, the administration is moving to severely curtail the department's regulatory power. Plans call for the repeal of hundreds of directives and the weakening of enforcement, particularly in areas overseeing for-profit colleges and protecting student borrowers. The long-term goal is to render the agency so diminished that a future Congress might be persuaded to formally eliminate it.

The strategy underscores a significant clash between the executive and legislative branches, highlighting how administrative action can be used to pursue policy goals even without congressional approval. The outcome will have profound implications for federal education policy, student aid, and civil rights enforcement in schools across the nation.