ICYMI: Axios: Trump-Voting States Have More to Lose if Education Department Dismantled
February 5, 2025

Key Point: “President Trump’s campaign promise to dismantle the Department of Education could prove more costly for red states than blue. … States that voted for Trump last November, on average, use more federal funding in their education apportions than states that voted for former Vice President Harris.”
Axios: Trump-voting states have more to lose if Education Department dismantled
By April Rubin
- President Trump’s campaign promise to dismantle the Department of Education could prove more costly for red states than blue.
- States that voted for Trump last November, on average, use more federal funding in their education apportions than states that voted for former Vice President Harris.
- States would likely handle cuts to federal education funding in different ways. Those that have more low-income families and, in turn, receive higher shares of Title I funding would feel the impact most, per Welner.
- “In states that are already financially strained because they just have less wealth, this could result simply in less funding and fewer resources for the students,” Welner said.
- Student performance, which was already in decline before the pandemic, has worsened since 2020, making federal funds to help bridge academic gaps all the more important.
- Trump regularly floated eliminating the Department of Education on the campaign trail
- Trump promised to sign an executive order curtailing the Department of Education’s powers, and dozens of its employees were placed on administrative leave last week.