Trump Moves to Dismantle US Education Department, Keeps Core Functions

'One of the Most Destructive, Devastating Steps Trump Has Ever Taken'

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WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has signed an executive order calling for the dismantling of the US Education Department, advancing a campaign promise to take apart an agency that's been a long-time target of conservatives.

Trump has derided the Education Department as wasteful and polluted by liberal ideology. However, completing its dismantling is most likely impossible without an act of Congress, which created the department in 1979. Republicans said they will introduce legislation to achieve that, while Democrats have quickly lined up to oppose the idea.

The order on Thursday says the education secretary 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."

It offers no detail on how that work will be carried out or where it will be targeted, though the White House said the agency will retain certain critical functions.