Republican Bills Could Dismantle Education Department

House Republicans introduced a slew of bills Thursday that they say will “rightsize” the Department of Education. But, if passed, the legislative package would effectively carry out President Donald Trump’s promise to dismantle the department, dispersing nearly all of its responsibilities to other executive agencies with a few key exceptions.

“Education policy should be focused on helping students succeed—not preserving a federal bureaucracy for its own sake,” said Rep. Tim Walberg, the Michigan Republican who chairs the education committee, in a statement. “Rather than allowing unnecessary layers of Washington bureaucracy [to] stand between families and the services they rely on, the bills would transfer key statutory authorities to agencies better equipped to carry them out while maintaining continuity for students and stakeholders.”  

The 10 bills largely mirror a series of interagency agreements the Trump administration has already used to siphon off various grant programs typically overseen by ED. 

For example, the Less Bureaucracy, Better Workforce Development and Less Bureaucracy, Better Higher Education Acts, send “all the functions” related to career and technical education and postsecondary grant programs, respectively, to the Labor Department; the Trump administration made parallel transfers in May and November 2025. The package also includes a bill that would move all of the Office of Federal Student Aid, the largest operation of the Education Department, to the Department of Treasury, just as Trump announced his intention to do in March.

None of the bills, however, suggest transferring the Office for Civil Rights or the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. (In June, the Trump administration signed two separate IAAs sending these offices and their responsibilities to the departments of Justice and Health, respectively, but it has faced significant pushback since.)

The administration’s agreements could be repealed by future administrations, but passing legislation would make the dismantling harder to reverse. That said, Republicans still have a long way to go before they can turn the bills into law.

Democrats, as well as the union representing ED employees, oppose the proposed bills.

“Despite Republicans’ rhetoric, they are not ‘modernizing’ the department—they are blessing President Trump’s scheme to dismantle it piece by piece,” said Rep. Bobby Scott, a Virginia Democrat and ranking member on the education committee.