The Trump administration is considering significant cuts to the U.S. Department of Education, potentially including executive action to close unprotected programs and a call to Congress for full departmental closure. Dozens of staff have been placed on paid administrative leave, raising concerns among department employees.
President Donald Trump has said repeatedly that he will try to close the U.S. Department of Education, seen here in Washington, D.C.
Taken together, the news has unsettled department staff and is sure to come up in the Senate confirmation hearing for Trump's nominee to be education secretary, Linda McMahon. That hearing has not yet been scheduled. "These are all programs that Congress established and knowingly housed inside the Department of Education," says Dan Zibel, a former top lawyer in the department and now chief counsel at the National Student Legal Defense Network,"and any changes to those programs would not only be short-sighted but require a new vote of Congress.
They describe receiving an email, obtained by NPR, informing them that"you will be placed on administrative leave with full pay and benefits pursuant to the President's executive order on DEIA and further guidance from OPM. This administrative leave is not being done for any disciplinary purpose." What's more, NPR spoke with several staff who say they attended the Diversity Change Agents workshop during President Trump's first administration and were encouraged to do so by Trump's own political appointees.
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT TRUMP ADMINISTRATION EXECUTIVE ACTION BUDGET CUTS CONGRESS
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