White House preparing executive order to abolish DOE

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The White House is preparing an executive order to eliminate the Department of Education, two sources familiar with the plans told NBC News.

President Donald Trump cannot unilaterally abolish a federal agency without the approval of Congress.

Trump's proposal was adopted into the Republican Party platform last summer, and was an idea also pushed by Project 2025.

The department says its elementary and secondary programs serve more than 50 million students in about 98,000 public schools and 32,000 private schools. The department also provides "grant, loan, and work-study assistance to more than 12 million postsecondary students," it says.

Becky Pringle, the president of the National Education Association, a major labor group, warned in a statement Tuesday that Trump's forthcoming order would hurt students and families, especially in vulnerable populations.

“If it became a reality, Trump’s power grab would steal resources for our most vulnerable students, explode class sizes, cut job training programs, make higher education more expensive and out of reach for middle class families, take away special education services for students with disabilities, and gut student civil rights protections," she said. "Americans did not vote for, and do not support, ending the federal government’s commitment to ensuring equal educational opportunities for every child."

Republican support for eliminating the department started soon after it was founded, with President Ronald Reagan advocating for dismantling it. Republicans in Congress have not been able to pass legislation to do so, however.

Last month, Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and David Rouzer, R-N.C., filed bills that would eliminate the department. Massie's measure has garnered 27 co-sponsors, all Republicans. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., introduced a similar bill in the last Congress and his office said it expects him to do the same in the current one.

Republicans control the House and Senate, but any effort to abolish the department would face major obstacles in the upper chamber, where 60 votes are required to overcome a filibuster and advance to a final vote. Given their narrow majority, Republicans would need Democratic support to do that, which would make it unlikely for such a bill to pass.

Last week, Trump signed another education-related order to expand school choice, directing the Education Department to issue guidance to states within 60 days about how they can use federal funds to boost school choice programs in their states.

School choice has long been a cornerstone of the GOP agenda, with a significant number of Republican-led states freeing up more funding in recent years for low-income families to send their students to private or charter schools.

In recent years, “cleaning out” or fully abolishing the federal Department of Education has also become a leading Republican policy plank and was popular among several of the Republican candidates who challenged Trump in last year's presidential primary.