Up First from NPR
School Funding, Venezuelan Deportation Hearing, Key Bridge Inspection
Fri, 21 Mar 2025
President Trump shuts down the Department of Education, leaving federal funding for schools in limbo. A judge demands answers from the Trump administration after Venezuelan migrants were deported despite a court order. And, Maryland failed to inspect the Francis Scott Key Bridge before its collapse last year, raising concerns about other bridges nationwide. Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today's episode of Up First was edited by Nicole Cohen, Anna Yukhananov, Luis Clemens, Alice Woelfle and Mohamad ElBardicy.It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas.We get engineering support from Simon-Laslo Janssen, and our technical director is Stacey Abbott.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Chapter 1: Why is President Trump shutting down the Department of Education?
President Trump is trying to shut down the Department of Education.
We're going to be returning education very simply back to the states where it belongs.
How will the move impact rural and low-income students?
I'm A. Martinez, that's Leila Fadal, and this is Up First from NPR News. A judge wants answers from the Trump administration on why it deported more than 200 Venezuelan migrants after a court order said stop. What will the government say when they're forced to explain?
And a new report found that if Maryland had done needed assessments on the Francis Scott Key Bridge, it could have prevented its collapse last year.
These bridge owners need to be looking at recent vessel traffic. Things have changed over time.
Thank you.
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Chapter 2: How will the shutdown of the Department of Education affect rural and low-income students?
NPR education reporter Janaki Mehta has been following the story and joins us now. Hey, Janaki. Hey, Layla. So, Janaki, let's start with the executive action President Trump signed yesterday that aims to eliminate the education department. And we expected this, but can the president just eliminate the Department of Education?
No, that actually requires an act of Congress. The action essentially tells the Secretary of Education to take all steps towards eliminating the department to the maximum extent possible under the law. And like I said, it does require Congress. Well, we've already seen the Trump administration move towards that goal by cutting the department workforce nearly in half.
Many of the department's employees are going to have their last day today before being put on administrative leave.
So even without an act of Congress, the steps begin now. And your reporting has found that nearly the entire staff of the Education Department's data agency is being laid off. What exactly does that agency do?
Yeah, so the National Center for Education Statistics, or NCES, has been the central source of data about education in the U.S. for more than 150 years. At the start of this year, more than 100 people were working there, and after today, just three NCES staff will remain. That's according to multiple employees at NCES and an internal email we reviewed.
And nearly all the data experts responsible for determining whether schools qualify for certain federal grants will soon be out of jobs. So this data agency being eliminated, what does it mean for schools?
So part of what NCES works on are known as formula grants for schools, things like Title I, which goes to low-income schools, and also funding for rural schools through the Rural Education Achievement Program. Those are just two examples, but if there aren't data people crunching these numbers, employees tell us it's going to be really hard for schools to get that money.
I talked to Amy Price-Azano, who leads the Center for Rural Education at Virginia Tech, and she said, It's important to remember the students on the other side of this money.
When we talk about percents and all of this, we forget that that's a real kid. And so how will those kids have everything that they need to be successful in school, to be safe in school?
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Chapter 5: How did the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse due to inspection failures?
carrying over 100 people the White House says were deported under the act. The Trump administration is alleging that these members are Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang. But in court filings earlier this week, immigration officials also said that many of those removed under the act do not have criminal records in the United States. And as noted, they were taken to El Salvador.
OK, so the judge tried to stop these deportations or pause them for two weeks. There were some new filings in the case yesterday. What did they show?
Yesterday, the DOJ had to file additional details about the flights, but Boasberg says that they, quote, again evaded its obligations. He said that Trump's cabinet secretaries are deciding whether to refuse to provide evidence. The executive branch has the power to not give judges information they want if officials say it will harm national security or foreign relations.
But Boesberg says the government filings are, quote, woefully insufficient because they're still deliberating whether to invoke this so-called state secrets privilege. And what is the judge trying to learn now? He's trying to understand if the administration disobeyed his orders, which did call for planes to be turned around. Trump officials have underscored that they did not disobey orders.
Still, they've doubled down on their criticism of the original order and have even called to impeach Boesberg.
And what does Boasburg want the government to do now? What are the next steps?
He's asking the government today to explain any of its discussions about invoking this privilege of state secrets, and they must make a final decision by March 25th. A Justice Department spokesperson said the department sees the questions from Boasberg as, quote, inappropriate judicial overreach. And more of this might be discussed in a hearing this afternoon.
Now, this is one case of many around President Trump's actions. Just zoom out a little bit. What has this week shown us about the legal challenges the Trump administration is facing?
This case is not the only one that has attracted strong words from judges. And ultimately, the Trump administration is using laws that have not been tested for decades and stretching that executive power. Many of those questions are ending up in courts across the country, including with results that may not favor Trump's interpretation.
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