US President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order Thursday to close the Education Department, fulfilling a yearslong pledge to dismantle the federal agency, the White House said in a statement.
The order will direct Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure the Department of Education and return education authority to the States, while continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”
It mandates that the agency's funds do not go toward programs or activities that advance diversity, equity and inclusion goals or gender ideology.
Trump will hold an event at the White House to sign the order.
The President cannot shutter the agency without congressional legislation, which could prove difficult. Trump's Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, but major legislation, such as a bill eliminating a cabinet-level agency, would need 60 votes and thus the support of seven Democrats to pass, according to Reuters.
Senate Democrats have given no sign they would support abolishing the Education Department.
Trump has repeatedly called for eliminating the department, calling it “a big con job.” He proposed shuttering it in his first term as president, but Congress did not act.
