If you’ve been following the news lately, you know the headlines have been a total whirlwind. One day it’s a rumor, the next it’s an executive order. The big question everyone is asking: did Trump shut down Department of Education for real, or is this just a massive bureaucratic shell game?
Honestly, the answer is a bit of both.
Walking into 2026, the Department of Education (ED) as we knew it is basically a ghost of its former self. But here is the kicker—the President can’t just snap his fingers and delete an entire cabinet-level agency. That takes Congress. However, what we’ve seen over the last year is a masterclass in "dismantling from the inside." It is a strategy of moving the furniture out while the lease is still active.
The Strategy Behind the Shutdown
The move to have Trump shut down Department of Education didn't start with a wrecking ball; it started with a pen. Back in March 2025, President Trump signed an executive order directing Secretary Linda McMahon to "facilitate the closure" of the department. Since then, the administration has been "selling it off for parts," as some critics put it.
They aren't just firing people. They are moving entire programs.
Imagine you have a huge office building. Instead of knocking it down, you move the accounting team to a different city, send the HR department to a partner firm, and tell the janitors they work for the park service now. By the time you’re done, you still have the building, but nobody is inside and no work is getting done there. That’s the "Interagency Agreement" (IAA) strategy the Trump administration used throughout late 2025.
Where did the programs go?
The administration basically sliced the ED into pieces and handed them out to other departments. It’s a reorganization that bypasses the need for a full Congressional vote to "abolish" the nameplate on the door.
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- The Department of Labor (DOL): This is the new powerhouse. It took over the $18 billion Title I program, which funds schools in low-income areas. It also grabbed the Higher Education Act programs. The goal? Aligning school with "workforce readiness."
- The Department of the Interior (DOI): They now handle Indian Education programs, including tribal schools.
- Health and Human Services (HHS): They took over things like medical school accreditation evaluations and child care grants for student-parents.
- The State Department: They are now in charge of international education programs like Fulbright-Hays.
Why Everyone Is Freaking Out (or Cheering)
Depending on who you talk to, this is either a "dark day for American children" or a "long-overdue victory for parents."
Secretary Linda McMahon has been vocal about the "50-state tour," claiming that the federal government shouldn't be a national school board. The administration's logic is simple: the ED doesn't actually teach kids. States do. So, why have a massive middleman in D.C. taking a cut of the taxes and adding 4 million hours of paperwork?
But the backlash is intense.
Education advocates, like NEA President Becky Pringle, argue that this "illegal plan" abandons the most vulnerable students. When you move Title I or IDEA (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) funding to the Department of Labor, you aren't just changing the letterhead. You’re changing the mission. Labor experts aren't necessarily experts in how a child with autism learns.
The $1.6 Trillion Problem
The biggest piece of the puzzle still sitting in the half-empty ED building is the student loan portfolio. We are talking about $1.6 trillion. That is a massive financial asset. The administration has called the ED "not a bank" and wants to move these functions to an entity better equipped to handle them.
But for borrowers, 2026 has been a year of chaos.
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With the department in transition, customer service for loan servicing has become a nightmare. Some programs, like Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), have faced new restrictions. If you work for an organization that the administration deems as having a "substantial illegal purpose"—like certain groups helping refugees—you might find your forgiveness blocked.
The Legal Reality: Can He Actually Do It?
Here is the "expert" nuance: Trump shut down Department of Education is a goal, but legally, the department still exists.
Under the law, only Congress can officially kill an agency it created. Since the ED was established in 1979 under Jimmy Carter, it has a statutory right to exist. The Trump administration is essentially using a "proof of concept" model. By moving all the programs via interagency agreements, they are trying to prove to Congress that the department is redundant.
"Look," they say, "the DOL is handling Title I just fine. Why do we need the ED?"
It’s a gamble.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other Democrats have been fighting this in the courts, arguing that the President is overstepping his authority by moving congressionally mandated programs without permission. It’s a constitutional tug-of-war.
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What This Means for Your Local School
If you’re a parent, you probably don't care about interagency agreements. You care if the lights stay on and the teachers get paid.
The administration insists that funding levels set by Congress will stay the same. If your school was supposed to get $1 million in Title I money, they say you’ll still get it—it just comes from the Department of Labor now.
But there are strings attached. Big ones.
The "One Big Beautiful Bill" Impact
The administration pushed through legislation (often called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act) that shifted the focus toward school choice.
- Universal School Choice: A new federal voucher program allows taxpayers to donate up to $1,700 for scholarships to private or religious schools.
- The DEI Crackdown: Any school receiving federal funds—even if those funds now come from the DOL or HHS—must scrap Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs.
- Merit-Based Funding: States that abolish teacher tenure and adopt "merit pay" get preferential treatment for what’s left of the federal grants.
Actionable Insights: How to Navigate the New Education Landscape
We are in uncharted territory. Whether you support the move or hate it, the "business as usual" approach to education is dead. Here is how you should be looking at the next few months:
- Watch Your State House: Since the federal "guardrails" are being pulled off, your state governor and legislature now have way more power over how federal money is spent. If you want to influence your child’s curriculum or school funding, the battle is now local, not national.
- Audit Your Student Loans: If you have federal loans, do not assume your servicer has the right info. With the "HEP" (Higher Education Programs) division moving to the Department of Labor in January 2026, data migrations are happening. Keep physical copies of your payment history.
- Explore "Trump Accounts": For those with kids born after January 1, 2025, there is a new $1,000 government bonus for "Trump accounts"—a sort of hybrid 529/IRA. It’s worth checking if you qualify, as it's part of the new "incentivized savings" push.
- Check Special Education Protections: If your child has an IEP (Individualized Education Program), be proactive. The transition of IDEA oversight is the most legally murky part of the shutdown. Ensure your school district is still following federal disability law, even if the federal office overseeing it is in the middle of a move.
The attempt to have Trump shut down Department of Education has effectively turned the U.S. education system into a 50-state experiment. The federal government is no longer the "manager" of education; it’s more like a disgruntled landlord who has stopped making repairs and is trying to get the tenants to move out. Whether the states can handle the new responsibility—and the new chaos—remains the biggest story of 2026.