Republicans Take Key Step To Abolish The Department Of Education, Imperiling Student Loan Programs

Republican lawmakers took a key step last week to officially abolish the U.S. Department of Education, reintroducing a bill that would eliminate the federal agency. The bill is just the latest step Republicans in Washington have taken to try to dismantle the department. Meanwhile, the Trump administration seems poised to further disrupt department staffing and operations by placing some employees on leave.

It may not be easy for the department, which oversees the nation’s education system and manages a federal student loan program that exceeds $1 trillion, to be completely dismantled. But major staffing changes, funding cuts, and the potential shutdown of programs and projects could still have significant impacts for millions of Americans, including many student loan borrowers, even if the department itself survives. Here’s the latest.

Republicans Reintroduce Bill To Abolish The Department of Education

On Friday, Republican lawmakers reintroduced a bill to formally dismantle the Department of Education. The bill, H.R. 899, contains just a single sentence: “The Department of Education shall terminate on December 31, 2026.”

“Unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. should not be in charge of our children’s intellectual and moral development,” said Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) in a statement. “States and local communities are best positioned to shape curricula that meet the needs of their students. Schools should be accountable. Parents have the right to choose the most appropriate educational opportunity for their children, including home school, public school, or private school.”

“The federal Department of Education has never educated a single student, and it’s long past time to end this bureaucratic department that causes more harm than good,” said Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD), who introduced similar legislation in the Senate last November. “We all know local control is best when it comes to education. Everyone raised in South Dakota can think of a teacher who played a big part in their educational journey. Local school boards and state Departments of Education know best what their students need, not unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.”

Eliminating the Department of Education is a longstanding conservative goal since its creation under President Jimmy Carter in 1979. President Ronald Reagan pushed to have the department eliminated, but was unable to successfully do so via legislation in Congress. Since then, the department has grown to approximately 4,000 employees with divisions that handle everything from funding for children with disabilities and early childhood education, to disbursing federal student aid including Pell Grants and work-study programs, and administering the department’s vast federal student loan portfolio, including federal student loan forgiveness and repayment programs.

Trump Administration Takes Steps To Disrupt The Department of Education

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is taking steps to disrupt the Department of Education. Last week, dozens of department staff were placed on leave, allegedly for attending a diversity training course during the first Trump administration under Secretary Betsy DeVos, according to recent reporting. Workers impacted by the forced leave include civil rights attorneys, program analysts, student loan regulators, and workers involved with providing individualized education programs for special needs children, according to NBC News.

Reporters are suggesting that more staffing disruptions for the Department of Education may be coming, possibly on a far broader scale. The Trump administration recently effectively shut down the headquarters for the United States Agency for International Development, USAID. That could serve as a blueprint of gutting the education department.

Shutdown Of Department Of Education May Be Difficult To Accomplish

A formal dismantling of the Department of Education would require an act of Congress. And while Republican lawmakers in the House may attempt to pass H.R. 899, it’s unlikely to succeed in the Senate, where Democrats would likely use the filibuster to block it. So far, there are no indications that Republicans would abolish the filibuster to pass this kind of legislation.

If the department does actually get dismantled, that doesn’t mean that key educational and student loan programs would be eliminated. Instead, these programs would likely be moved to other departments within the federal government. For instance, some conservatives have suggested that the Office of Federal Student Aid, which administers the federal student loan and aid disbursement system (including federal student loan forgiveness programs) should be moved to the Department of Treasury.

The legislation introduced by Senator Rounds in November is more detailed than the House bill filed by Rep. Massie last week, and directs specific programs housed within the Department of Education to various other parts of the federal government. The bill would specifically move the entire federal student loan system to the Department of Treasury.

“This legislation is a roadmap to eliminating the federal Department of Education by practically rehoming these federal programs in the departments where they belong, which will be critical as we move into next year,” said Rounds in a statement in November.

Funding And Staffing Cuts At The Department Of Education Could Impact Student Loan Forgiveness And Repayment Programs

Even without the wholesale dismantling of the Department of Education, the Trump administration could still take significant steps to undermine and disrupt it through further staffing cuts. And Congress could choke off funding to the department, making it more difficult for officials to operate and oversee key programs.

The combination of funding and staffing cuts would mean the loss of institutional knowledge, and the inability of whatever remains of the department to hire, train, and retain replacements. All of this could impact educational and student loan programs leading to slower processing times, administrative errors, and reduced oversight of federal contractors, such as student loan servicing companies.

“What happens if the Department of Education is shut down? The truth is, we don’t have a direct answer for you, but we can speculate that student loans will not go away if the Department goes away and it would harm borrowers even more than the current system,” said the Student Debt Crisis Center in an email to borrowers in December. “While complicated policies, red tape, and lawsuits make their jobs difficult and your student loan situation confusing beyond belief, the folks who work at the Department of Education are not responsible for the student debt crisis.”

The SDCC warned that eliminating the Department of Education could cause federal student loan forgiveness and repayment programs to be moved over to “inexperienced agencies.” The resulting turmoil may lead to “more confusion and delays” and even a “breakdown in how loans are managed, leading to even more chaos for borrowers.”