The Trump administration on Tuesday rolled out a new plan to “break up the federal education bureaucracy” as part of President Donald Trump’s promise to dismantle the Department of Education.
The plan shifts responsibility for several legally required programs from the Education Department to the State, Labor, and Interior Departments, as well as the Department of Health and Human Services. Each of those agencies has signed an interagency agreement with the Education Department to administer the programs.
“The Trump Administration is taking bold action to break up the federal education bureaucracy and return education to the states,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “Cutting through layers of red tape in Washington is one essential piece of our final mission. As we partner with these agencies to improve federal programs, we will continue to gather best practices in each state through our 50-state tour, empower local leaders in K-12 education, restore excellence to higher education, and work with Congress to codify these reforms.”
“Together, we will refocus education on students, families, and schools – ensuring federal taxpayer spending is supporting a world-class education system,” McMahon added.
The announcement came after the Education Department posted a video on social media depicting former presidents, from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush, discussing the need for dramatic educational reform. Trump campaigned on eliminating the Education Department and moving education primarily back to the states.
“We’re going to be returning education, very simply, back to the states where it belongs, and this is a very popular thing to do, but much more importantly, it’s a common-sense thing to do, and it’s going to work. Absolutely, it’s going to work,” Trump said earlier this year when he signed an executive order to dismantle the Education Department.
The clock is ticking… pic.twitter.com/Go0UlCdkrK
— U.S. Department of Education (@usedgov) November 18, 2025
The partnership between Education and Labor will include the administration of elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education programs. This will consist of more than a dozen programs related to education, ranging from grants for local education agencies to education for homeless children.
The Department of the Interior will administer additional Indian Education programs, while HHS will oversee a program providing child care for parents who are in school and will supervise the work of the National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation.
“Medical education must incorporate timely, rigorous science on nutrition, metabolism and all medical subjects. Secretary Kennedy is leading the charge with American medical schools and HHS will encourage foreign medical schools through this partnership,” said HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill.
In partnership with the State Department, the Education Department will establish the International Education and Foreign Language Studies Partnership to administer specific research, foreign language, and business programs.
Trump’s plan was opposed by the National Education Association, a teachers union closely tied to Democrats. Beck Pringle, the association’s president, said the announcement was “cruel” and “shameful.”
