In response to the Trump administration asking the Supreme Court to allow him to resume shuttering the Department of Education, DNC Chair Ken Martin released the following statement:

“After Donald Trump’s billionaire puppet Linda McMahon failed to defend his dangerous budget cuts to public education, his administration is doubling down on abolishing the Department of Education. Trump would rather leave 50 million public school students out in the cold than abandon his disastrous plans to rig the economy for his billionaire backers. Thanks to his Project 2025 playbook, Trump is making the ultra-rich even richer at the expense of our kids.”

TODAY: Donald Trump is doubling down on his Project 2025 plans to abolish the Department of Education and gut public education for millions of students.

The Hill: “Trump administration asks Supreme Court to allow gutting of Education Department”

CNBC: “Trump signs executive order to dismantle the Department of Education”

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

CNN: “Many of Trump’s early actions appear closely aligned with Project 2025’s plans. A CNN analysis of the 53 executive orders and actions from Trump’s first week in office found that more than two-thirds – 36 – evoke proposals outlined in ‘Mandate for Leadership,’ Project 2025’s 922-page blueprint for the next Republican president.”

Earlier this week, Linda McMahon repeatedly dodged questions on Trump and Republicans’ sweeping budget cuts to the Department of Education. 

Rep. Bobby Scott: “The department’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposal would make it more difficult for students to enroll in and afford a college education by proposing reductions in funding to need-based grants such as Pell and work study. … Regrettably, this proposed budget does not signal a path of success for America’s students and families.”

Rep. Scott: “In the pending reconciliation bill, that’s the one that has tax breaks for the wealthy and cuts in health care and Medicaid. CBO says at least 13 million people will lose their insurance. … SNAP benefit cuts and access to college with cuts in student loans and Pell Grants. Does the 2026 budget cut Pell and work study on top of those cuts?”

Linda McMahon: *Doesn’t answer question*

Rep. Greg Casar: “The administration that you are a part of is pushing for a massive tax break for billionaires paid for by massive cuts to health care and food assistance for everyday Americans, including to the children that you’re charged with educating. … So you think that under this proposal you will not like the other billionaires get millions or tens of millions of dollars in tax benefit?” 

McMahon: *Doesn’t answer question*

REMINDER: Lower-income and rural students are already paying the price after Trump dismantled the Department of Education.

NPR: “Education Dept. cuts could hurt low-income schools.” … 

“[T]oday, nearly all the statisticians and data experts who help get [certain federal education grants] to schools could be out of a job.

“The action essentially tells U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to take all necessary steps toward eliminating the department to the maximum extent possible … The National Center for Education Statistics, the agency that will have all but three staff workers eliminated, works on ‘formula grants.’ States and districts primarily decide what to do with these funds. For example, Title I and rural school grants could be used to pay for school staff salaries, transportation costs, technology and extra tutoring.”

PBS: “Nationwide, more than 568,000 low-income students were enrolled in the GEAR UP program in the 2022-23 school year, according to the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships. But under the Trump administration’s 2026 proposed budget for the Department of Education, this program would be eliminated. …

“Some workers who have been fired outright or have been placed on administrative leave say the cuts make it harder to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent on education in the ways Congress intended and will make it harder for local communities and states to support students or plan for the future.

“Education research scientist Joseph Murphy was on a team of six people that tracked data tied to federal grants designed to help the nation’s students and communities with the highest needs. … Murphy sees the elimination of his team as ‘a complete purge of anything data-related.’”

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