Trump signs executive order to shut down US Education Department

Moving to fulfill a campaign promise, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday calling for the dismantling of the Education Department, an agency Republicans have talked about closing for decades.

- Associated Press

WASHINGTON:

The order says Education Secretary Linda McMahon will, "to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law, take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities."

Eliminating the department altogether would be a cumbersome task, which likely would require an act of Congress.

In the weeks since he took office, the Trump administration already has cut the department's staff in half and overhauled much of the department's work.

Trump adviser Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has cut dozens of contracts it dismissed as "woke" and wasteful.