Marilyn Thomas
Appearances
Global News Podcast
Trump signs executive order to close Department of Education
On his own, President Trump cannot scrap the entire department. It was set up with congressional approval and so it will need congressional approval to dismantle it as well. And that is not something that is likely to happen because Republicans would need 60 votes in the Senate. It would need a super majority and that's not something that is... likely to happen. It's a political long shot.
Global News Podcast
Trump signs executive order to close Department of Education
And even in the House of Representatives, President Trump would likely struggle to gain the necessary support as well. And just as a reminder, there was a vote last year to abolish the Education Department, and that was attached to another amendment as well. But that failed to pass because 60 Republicans joined Democrats in the House to vote no. So like a lot of other President Trump's
Global News Podcast
Trump signs executive order to close Department of Education
policy moves, this is likely to just go into court and legal battles. But what impact is this executive order going to have now? So President Trump and his Republican supporters and other Republicans have been keen to emphasise that this will really help the test scores in schools and they blame the department for those test results. But
Global News Podcast
Trump signs executive order to close Department of Education
Actually, a lot of the funding, so individual states already control almost 90% of money that educates children. What does lie with the federal department is actually provision of support for disabled and low-income students. So a lot of critics of this move are saying that the people who are going to be losing out
Global News Podcast
Trump signs executive order to close Department of Education
Are those children who are more disadvantaged, those who are from low income backgrounds, those who receive particular grants like Pell grants? And those are the ones that are federally funded and federally distributed as well.
Global News Podcast
Trump signs executive order to close Department of Education
There's a mixed reaction from people who have children at school. I mean, some Republican supporters are very enthusiastic about this. This has been something that has been a longstanding wish of the Republican Party. But otherwise, the elected adviser, Elon Musk, celebrated with a picture of Donald Trump and a grave saying Department of Education with a thumbs up. So very mixed reactions.