In response to Trump’s handpicked Supreme Court justices giving Trump the green light to resume shutting down the Department of Education, DNC Chair Ken Martin released the following statement:

“Donald Trump handpicked radical, out-of-touch Supreme Court justices to clear the path for his reckless agenda and today they delivered another blow to the millions of American families who rely on public education. Trump just got the green light to forge ahead with his Project 2025 plan to abolish the Department of Education, undercutting 50 million students and threatening the elimination of tens of thousands of teacher positions. Trump and his billionaire donor Secretary of Education Linda McMahon have made it crystal clear they don’t give a damn about America’s public school students. Defunding public schools won’t make America smarter or stronger — it will set back our kids and leave future generations worse off.”

TODAY: Donald Trump’s handpicked Supreme Court justices signed off on his Project 2025 plan to abolish the Department of Education, allowing the administration to resume their reckless mass firings.  

Associated Press: “The Supreme Court is allowing President Donald Trump to put his plan to dismantle the Education Department back on track and go through with laying off nearly 1,400 employees.”

NPR: “U.S. Education Department says it is cutting nearly half of all staff”

“The Trump administration is working toward its promise of eliminating the U.S. Department of Education: On Tuesday evening, the department released a statement saying it would cut nearly 50% of the department’s workforce. Impacted staff will be placed on administrative leave beginning March 21, according to the announcement.”

Project 2025, p. 319: “Federal education policy should be limited and, ultimately, the federal Department of Education should be eliminated.”

Trump and Linda McMahon have confirmed their goal is to shut down the department — mass firings are just the “first step.” 

Laura Ingraham, Fox News: “Is this the first step on the road to a total shutdown?”

Linda McMahon: “Yes, actually it is. Because that was the President’s mandate as directed to me, clearly, is to shut down the Department of Education …”

Reporter: “Do you want the Department of Education to be closed?” 

Trump: “Oh, I’d like it to be closed immediately.”

Shutting down the Department of Education will have disastrous consequences for tens of millions of families, threatening billions of dollars that support K-12 schools, working families, and low-income schools while gutting student loan debt relief. 

LA Times: “The prospect of dismantling the Department of Education has led to questions and fears over potential chaos over how key responsibilities and billions in federal funding — including handling federal financial aid, grants for disadvantaged students and civil rights enforcement — would be affected.

“The department has authority over financial lifelines that so many campuses and students rely on. The department’s K-12 programs serve more than 50 million students attending 130,000 public and private schools; federal grant, loan, and work-study assistance benefits more than 13 million post-secondary students.”

Inside Higher Ed: “College and university stakeholders worry that abolishing the Education Department could be catastrophic for institutions and students. State higher education officials, university administrators, nonprofit advocacy groups and students depend on the Education Department to oversee federal student aid, manage the student loan portfolio, investigate civil rights complaints and allocate billions of dollars in institutional aid, among other operations.” 

Associated Press: “[I]n 2010 … the Education Department became the sole lender of federally subsidized student loans.” 

Project 2025, p. 350: “Title I …should be phased out …” 

TIME: “This loss of almost $18 billion in federal funding would be devastating. Eliminating Title I would harm nearly three million children throughout the U.S. … [and] could result in the loss of 180,000 jobs for educators … 

“Title I also provides federal funding for high-poverty schools.”

Trump’s cuts also disproportionately hit Trump voters the hardest. 

CNN: “Potential federal education cuts could hit GOP’s base hardest” 

“It’s the sort of place where President-elect Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ message resonated – but also where some of his proposed policies could hit hardest, especially his promise to eliminate the Department of Education and slash federal funds to public schools. …

“Even a slight reduction in those dollars could have devastating effects for students and their families.”