President Donald Trump called for the immediate closure of the Department of Education Wednesday, as his administration began implementing sweeping federal spending reductions through billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“The Department of Education is a big con job,” Trump told reporters. “We’re ranked number 40th, but we’re ranked number one in one department, costs per pupil. So, we spend more per pupil than any other country in the world, but we’re ranked number 40.”
Education Department employees began receiving termination notices Wednesday evening, according to internal communications obtained by The Washington Post. The moves follow DOGE chief Elon Musk’s directive to slash federal spending by between 30-40 percent across the board.
“I say send it back to Iowa, to Idaho, to Colorado,” Trump said regarding education control. “We probably have 35, maybe 37 states that will do as well as Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden. They’ll be just as good.”
Trump nominated Linda McMahon to lead the department during his planned closure.
“I want Linda to put herself out of a job,” he said, explaining his choice to appoint a secretary to an agency he plans to eliminate.
The Education Department cuts include termination of 169 research contracts worth $881 million, according to DOGE records. Department spokesperson Madison Biedermann said core functions like national testing and the College Scorecard would continue.
Musk defended the rapid changes Tuesday during a press conference in the Oval Office, saying that Trump’s administration is responding to voter mandate.
“The people voted for major government reform and that’s what the people are going to get,” Musk said.
Budget Director Russell Vought told Fox News, “For the efficiency of the agency, to better serve the ability of the agency to meet the needs of the American people, we need a smaller workforce, a more efficient workforce.”
Democratic Party leaders have blasted the federal reform moves as unconstitutional and vowed to fight to maintain the current spending levels.
“We will not sit silently by and watch the Administration recklessly and lawlessly dismantle our federal agencies, fire and harass federal employees, withhold federal funds, and hack our private and sensitive data,” Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., said recently.
The cuts are part of broader workforce reductions that could transform the federal government’s 2 million civilian employees. Defense and Homeland Security departments are currently exempt from the cuts, which DOGE aims to complete by July 2026.