McMahon Says She Plans to 'Fire' Herself, Moving Education Department Work to Labor and Treasury as Proof for Congress
The Education Secretary says new interagency agreements show student aid and school programs can run without a standalone department. Congress would still have to vote to close it.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon says she is working to close the department she runs, and she wants Congress to see that the work can go on without it.
The pitch. McMahon told Fox News Digital the department has signed interagency agreements that hand day-to-day jobs to other agencies. She calls it a "proof of concept." "Let me prove to you that it works," she said she has told lawmakers. She added that Congress has to vote if the department is to close, "and if I, in fact, am able to fire myself, hopefully, they will vote" for it.
Labor. The Department of Labor is taking over daily administration of adult education, family literacy and career and technical education programs under two federal laws, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and the Perkins Act. The Education Department keeps its legal responsibilities and oversight while services move to states and grant recipients. McMahon said the transfers began with career and technical education, then K-12, and will reach higher education.
Treasury. The Treasury Department has agreed to take over key operations tied to federal student loans and collections on defaulted debt.
The argument. McMahon says the department is largely a pass-through for money Congress appropriates, and that some programs were duplicated in other agencies or handled better elsewhere. "Let's make sure the money gets where it needs to go," she said, and measure results by student outcomes.
The other view. Andrew Gillen, a higher education policy research fellow at the Cato Institute, told Fox that moving student loans and formula grants is a substantial change from earlier interagency agreements, which usually covered minor administrative support.
Where it stands. Fox notes that President Trump promised on the 2024 campaign trail to eliminate the department and later signed an executive order to begin dismantling it. The department has also moved out of its Washington headquarters so the Department of Energy can move in, which officials say saves hundreds of millions of dollars. It has also started a process letting states seek more flexibility with federal education funds, and Iowa was the first to join.
Note for readers: the claims about how smoothly the transfers will work come from McMahon and department officials. Fox's report did not include a response from congressional Democrats or teachers' groups.