this post was submitted on 10 Feb 2025
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104
Can Trump Dismantle the Department of Education? (time.com)
submitted 17 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
22 comments fedilink hide all child comments
top 22 comments
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[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 hours ago

Ask yourself this question: "Are you willing to do anything to stop him?". Because that's the question Trump is essentially asking everybody else, and those who have the authority to do anything to stop him are largely responding by saying "No." As long as that remains true, Trump can do what he wants.

And even if he "can't" do it.....what's stopping Trump from just firing all of the workers, leaving the department with zero employees actually doing the work? Trump has the power to do that, which accomplishes the same thing with a few extra steps.

So basically, yes. Trump can dismantle the Department of Education, USAID, and any other agency he wants.

[–] meowmeowbeanz 17 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Oh, the theater. Trump’s executive order to “dismantle” the DoE is peak political performance art. Congress built this bloated department, and only Congress can nuke it—but why let constitutional trivia ruin a good headline? Please. This isn’t about small government; it’s about rerouting power through different pipelines. Project 2025 wants to scatter education programs like confetti across agencies, because nothing says efficiency like turning one dumpster fire into twelve.

Meanwhile, states already run schools on local taxes and propaganda-approved curricula. But sure, let’s pretend dismantling a symbolic 8% federal contribution will “restore parental rights.” Both sides just love burning taxpayer cash on administrative hydras while screaming about liberty. Democracy™️: where the house always wins, and you’re always the mark.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 12 hours ago (3 children)

It’s also the student aid programs and a ton of other university-level stuff. Maybe the student aid programs can be shifted to Treasury or something but the Education Department doesn’t really do much K-12 policy stuff since, as you said, that’s a state and local thing. It’s mostly just non-controversial grants to states.

Maybe it doesn’t need to be a whole department but turning into an agency under another department isn’t going to save much money, if any. It’s just moving things around on an org chart.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 hours ago

Wait a sec, Dept of Ed is responsible for distributing all the funds for Title 1`schools(Schools where the majority of students are below the national poverty line), if they destroy the DoE, who takes on that role…and do we trust Trump and Musk to distribute those funds fairly knowing that the majority of poor people are black/racial minorities?

I think this is really about cutting off funding if you ask me…

[–] meowmeowbeanz 7 points 11 hours ago

Ah, but here’s the rub: shifting student aid programs to Treasury or some other bureaucratic abyss isn’t reform—it’s rebranding. The Education Department might be a bloated relic, but moving its functions around doesn’t eliminate waste; it just hides it under a new rug.

And let’s not pretend this is about saving money. Federal spending is a black hole where efficiency goes to die. The real play here is power consolidation: breaking one department into scattered fiefdoms so no one notices when the screws tighten.

Sure, K-12 is state-run on paper, but federal grants come with strings thicker than steel cables. This isn’t decentralization; it’s sleight of hand, and the taxpayers are left holding the bag—again.

[–] kata1yst 1 points 10 hours ago

It’s just moving things around on an org chart.

Judging by every new CEO I've had, this is the play.

  1. Do something largely inconsequential but visible, like a reorg.
  2. Wait for anything good to happen as it inevitably always does, since every nuance is measured somewhere.
  3. Claim the something good was a direct result of your action, even though in reality you likely only marginally slowed down something that was going to happen anyway.
  4. Claim bonus from board for accomplishment.
[–] [email protected] 84 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Legally, no. Practically/functionally, yes, since nobody's actually going to stop him.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

If we organize we can stop him. They want you to believe we’re powerless but it’s not true.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 hours ago

We couldn't even organize to get people to vote, and in most places you could do it by mail which meant 15 minutes on a computer to get the ballot sent right to your home where you could fill it out and return it by putting it back in your mailbox. Voting in person was even easier than that! We are powerless because the masses are apathetic.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (1 children)

Even the actual congressmen themselves tried to stop them by organizing with people outside of the Treasury and USAID and got told off at the door.

It would take tens of millions of people calling their senators, showing up in DC, and then some.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

What does told off mean? And how does it stack up against the law?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 hours ago

How does the law stack up to a locked door, a bunch of armed goons, and no armed law enforcement on your side? That's what told off means.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 hours ago

Its short for "Told to go Fuck Off"

"Fuck Off" is Euphemism for masturbate

They, congressmen, weren't allowed to enter despite Trump's goons going in and out freely.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 17 hours ago

Anything can happen so long as the US government is surrounded and filled with morons that want to hand supreme power to one leader and stand back and watch the entire thing burn down.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 15 hours ago

If Federal Marshall's are following his orders, and the courts either refuse to rule against him, or they do rule against him and he decides to ignore them, he can do just about anything he pleases, who is there to stop him?

The first time Trump ignores a direct court order, and uses the Federal Marshalls to perform their first illegal act, it's the end of the Republic.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

nope.

that requires an act of congress.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Like USAID?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

Technically they can’t dismantle USAID either.

A lot depends on the courts now.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 hours ago

Watch them.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 17 hours ago

Technically they can’t dismantle USAID either.

Practically they did, is my point.

You can break something without getting rid of it.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 16 hours ago

Yes, because he has captured the whole system of checks and balances.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 16 hours ago

But a dog can't play basketball!