Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., vows that if Republicans seek to push a bill shuttering the Department of Education, "It will be dead on arrival." (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
Regarding the notion of closing the department, Schumer asserted during a floor speech on Monday, "of course Donald Trump cannot proceed without an act of Congress. That's the law."
"Let me be very clear: If Republicans ever, ever, try to move a bill through the Senate that shuts down the Department of Education, Senate Democrats will halt it in its tracks. It will go nowhere. It will be dead on arrival," he said.
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Congress created the department less than 50 years ago.
"In October 1979, Congress passed the Department of Education Organization Act (Public Law 96-88). Created by combining offices from several federal agencies, the Department began operations in May 1980," according to the department's website.
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Schumer has served in the nation's legislature for nearly as long as the department has been operating — he started serving in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1981, then moved to the Senate in 1999.
Alex Nitzberg is a writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/schumer-warns-any-gop-bid-shutter-department-education-doa-senate