Trump Axes Dept of Education

The headline sounds bad, but behind it are important fundamentals that we better pay heed to. Lets find out.

Trump has signed an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education within the Federal Government. This has riled up the critics.

So what is Department of Education?

Here is quick summary:

• The U.S. Department of Education, created in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter, oversees federal education policies, funding, and civil rights enforcement but doesn’t directly run schools.

• The departmental budget

  • The department’s discretionary budget for FY 2025 is $20.4 billion, covering programs like Title I and IDEA, down from $79.1 billion in FY 2024.

  • Total outlays in FY 2024 were about $267.9 billion, including mandatory spending like student loans and Pell Grants, often rounded to $268 billion.

  • Dismantling could directly save $20 billion annually in discretionary funds, but only if all operations cease and aren’t reassigned.

• Trumps Action

  • Trump aims to dismantle it, signing an executive order on March 20, 2025, to shift control to states, arguing federal oversight hasn’t improved outcomes.

  • Critics warn of risks to vulnerable students; supporters see it as cutting bureaucracy.

  • Congress must approve the department’s elimination, a challenge given divided support and reliance on programs like special education funding.

• So Trump’s savings will be $20 billion approx. in discretionary savings

  • The $268 billion reflects broader education spending; Trump’s plan might disrupt this but not fully save it without congressional action.

  • Mandatory programs (over $200 billion) would need to shift (e.g., loans to Treasury) or end, potentially raising state costs or cutting student aid.

• Other Savings

  • The discretionary spending of the DoE was cut down from ~$80 billion in2024 to ~$20billion in 2025.

  • Current staff is down to ~2,000 from 4,100, with some savings already underway, though full impact hinges on legislative follow-through.

The fundamentals of government

Before we understand the correctness of Trump’s actions, we need to understand what is a government, as an entity. There are two polar models I describe below in very simplified terms. Different countries government lie at different points on this spectrum. But here are the two main models:

1. Government as the ruler - an all-purpose institution.

   1. In other words, government is the country and we are the citizens, members of the country.

   2. The country, i.e government, gives us various rights and expects certain duties out of us.

   3. Any new right comes to us if granted by the Government.

   4. Here we are below the government.

   5. In this model, government can do what it pleases unless it is specifically barred by the Constitution. (Think taking away the guns.)

      1. If you want the government to stop doing something you need to amend the Constitution.

      2. If Constitution is amended, the acts of the government prior to the amendment are not wrong.

   6. The government is thus an all-purpose institution.

2. Government as the agent - a limited purpose institution.

   1. In other words, we are the country and we create a government to govern the entire country.

   2. The government is our agent and we give it certain, very specific and very limited powers to limit our rights and impose duties on us.

   3. Any new right comes to us first, then we actively decide whether to let government have the power to control it or not.

   4. Here we are above the government.

   5. In this model, the government can only do what it is specifically allowed to do by the Constitution.

      1. If the government wants to do something else, it needs to go to the people and seek the power to do so by Constitutional amendment.

      2. Government cannot act before the Constitution empowers it. Hence all the acts of government in this new sphere of activity prior to the Constitutional amendment are illegal.

   6. The government is thus a limited-purpose institution.

Trumps Actions are not wrong

The US Constitutional arrangement is such that Education is subject of States and Local bodies. The Federal government has no authority to do anything in education sector. But there are grey areas. Can the Federal government sponsor some students in particular field? Sure. Can they encourage teachers in particular subject? Yes! But does it take $268 BILLION to do it? Definitely No!

Trump recognises that government will grow and loom large over the citizen if it is allowed to but eventually it will devour the citizen, the very person it is created to protect and nurture. Large government eventually becomes an albatross around our necks, as it already has. And therefore it has to be cut to size. Trump is essentially restoring the idea that government is a limited purpose institution strictly bound by the confines of the constitution.

In doing so, he is returning the agency to the individual. In other words, he is demanding more from us as citizens. And as a famous president once said “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country”. So will we rise to such a demand?

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Further reading:

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