President Donald Trump signed an executive order March 20, 2025, to draw down the Department of Education. (Pool)
Still, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters earlier Thursday that the executive order would not entirely shutter the agency, but would only "greatly minimize" it.
Additionally, she said that the remaining agency would still oversee Pell Grants and student loans that provide financial aid for undergraduate students.
"It's not going to be shut down," Leavitt said. "Pell Grants and student loans will still be run out of the department in Washington, D.C., but the great responsibility of educating our nation's students will return to the states."
The White House did not immediately reply to a request for comment from Fox News Digital to clarify what the remaining Department of Education would do. The Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Meanwhile, a Gallup Poll released in February shows that Americans' satisfaction with education has dropped significantly in the past decade. The poll found that only 24% of Americans are satisfied with the quality of education in the U.S. as of January 2025, in comparison to 37% in January 2017.
The Senate confirmed Linda McMahon to serve as the Secretary of Education on March 3. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Should efforts to shutter the agency move ahead, National Education Association President Becky Pringle cautioned that college would become more costly for families and that students with disabilities would suffer.
"If successful, Trump’s continued actions will hurt all students by sending class sizes soaring, cutting job training programs, making higher education more expensive and out of reach for middle-class families, taking away special education services for students with disabilities, and gutting student civil rights protections," Pringle said in a statement Wednesday evening.
Likewise, the American Federation of Teachers urged Congress earlier in March to oppose any executive orders to dismantle the agency. The teachers union pointed to an NPR/PBS News/Marist Poll conducted in February that found more than 60% of Americans "strongly oppose" eradicating the agency.
The executive order instructs Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to move forward facilitating plans to shutter the agency. (Getty Images)
Following reports Wednesday evening regarding Trump’s intention to sign the directive on Thursday, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten announced the union would challenge the order.
"See you in court," Weingarten said.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Legal actions opposing Trump's actions already are underway. A group of attorneys general from 21 states filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts March 13 following the layoffs at the agency.
The lawsuit said that efforts to dismantle the agency, including through the layoffs, are "an unlawful violation of the separation of powers, and the Executive’s obligation to take care that the law be faithfully executed."
Fox News’ Patrick Ward and Lawrence Edwards contributed to this report.
Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/department-education-significantly-dismantled-new-trump-executive-order