Trump administration moving some Education Department offices to other agencies as part of dismantling effort

By Sunlen Serfaty, CNN

(CNN) — The Department of Education announced Tuesday that it is moving part of its work to other federal agencies.

Under an interagency agreement, six departments will be moved to partner with four other agencies – the departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, Interior and State, according to a news release.

It comes as the administration has worked to dismantle the Department of Education, with President Donald Trump signing an executive order in March that sought to do so.

Plans for the announcement were first reported by the Washington Post.

Ahead of the Tuesday announcement, Education Secretary Linda McMahon posted a video on social media with quotes from multiple Republican politicians since 1980 about dismantling the department, writing: “The clock is ticking…”

According to fact sheets obtained by CNN ahead of the announcement, the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Office of Postsecondary Education will both move to the Department of Labor while the Office of Indian Education program will shift to the Department of the Interior.

Administration for Children and Families Relating to the CCAMPIS Program and the National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation will move to HHS and International Foreign Language Education will go to the State Department.

There appears to be no final decision yet on the Office for Civil Rights and where that would potentially be moved, if at all, a congressional source briefed on the changes told CNN.

According to the same source, the moves are taking place under an agreement in which personnel are sent to other agencies, but technically the Department of Education has some oversight and leadership over them.

The move allows McMahon, as promised, to dismantle the Education Department in piecemeal, without having get approval from Congress to eliminate the department completely, the source told CNN.

McMahon has acknowledged that only Congress has the power to eliminate the department.

“The Trump Administration is taking bold action to break up the federal education bureaucracy and return education to the states,” McMahon said in a statement announcing the changes. “As we partner with these agencies to improve federal programs, we will continue to gather best practices in each state through our 50-state tour, empower local leaders in K-12 education, restore excellence to higher education, and work with Congress to codify these reforms.”

The American Federation of Government Employees Local 252, which represents more than 2,700 Education Department employees, said the plan was unlawful and warned against diffusing the agency’s functions throughout the federal government.

“This move comes as the Administration has attempted to fire large numbers of career public servants in these very offices — and is now trying to shift their critical work to agencies with no educational expertise,” AFGE Local 252 President Rachel Gittleman said in a statement. “Breaking apart the Department of Education and moving its responsibilities elsewhere will only create more confusion for schools and colleges, deepen public distrust, and ultimately harm students and families.”

Trump’s plan to dismantle the agency was no surprise as he had pledged repeatedly during his campaign to do so.

Early on in his second term, the administration cut nearly half of the department’s workforce as an initial effort to shutter it.

The mass layoffs at the department were initially blocked by lower courts until the Supreme Court in July said the administration could proceed for now.

The department, which was created by Congress in 1979 when Jimmy Carter was president, is tasked with distributing federal funds to schools, managing federal aid for college students, and ensuring compliance with civil rights laws, including ensuring schools accommodate students with disabilities.

Most public-school policies, meanwhile, are a function of state government.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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