5 minPolitics
McMahon Says Education Department Can Be Dismantled as Functions Shift to Other Agencies
Education Secretary Linda McMahon says interagency agreements moving the Education Department's functions to other federal agencies are a proof of concept for Congress that the department is no longer needed.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon says a series of interagency agreements moving the Department of Education's responsibilities to other federal agencies is meant to show Congress that the department can be closed. McMahon described the effort as a test of whether essential federal education functions can operate without a standalone Cabinet department, and she framed the outcome as a decision for lawmakers.
In remarks to Fox News Digital, McMahon said the agreements mean the Education Department is contracting with other agencies to carry out functions assigned to them. "The first big block of work was transferred over to the Department of Labor," she said. Under the arrangement, the Department of Labor is taking on a major role in the day-to-day administration of adult education, family literacy and career and technical education programs under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and the Perkins Act. The Education Department retains statutory responsibilities and oversight while shifting services to states and grant recipients.
McMahon said the shift began with career and technical education and would extend to Kâ12 programs and then higher education. She said the goal is to demonstrate that federal support for students will not falter. "I've asked Congress with this proof of concept in these interagency agreements: 'Let me prove to you that it works,'" she said. She added that Congress must ultimately vote on whether to close the department, and that she hoped lawmakers would support it because she believes outcomes would improve for students.
The effort reflects a campaign pledge by President Donald Trump, who promised during his 2024 presidential run to eliminate the Education Department and later signed an executive order directing his administration to begin dismantling it. The Education Department has also partnered with the Department of the Treasury, which agreed to take over key operations related to federal student loans and collections on defaulted debt. According to department officials, the student loan partnership with Treasury and the workforce initiative with the Labor Department are part of a broader series of interagency agreements meant to show that funding flows can be reallocated across executive branch agencies without disruption.
McMahon argued that the department largely functions as a pass-through for federal money. "Congress appropriates the funds. The funds come through the Department of Education, and some of that funding still goes to other agencies to get to students and schools," she told Fox News Digital. She said some programs were being duplicated in other agencies or handled better elsewhere, and that the department should be measured by student outcomes and hold teachers and administrators accountable.
Andrew Gillen, a higher education policy research fellow at the Cato Institute, told Fox News Digital that shifting core duties such as student loans and formula grants marks a substantial change from earlier interagency agreements, which historically covered minor administrative support.
The department also announced earlier this year that it was leaving the Lyndon B. Johnson Department of Education building so the Department of Energy could move in by August. Officials described the move as a prudent step to save hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars and further reduce the federal education bureaucracy. In parallel, the administration is seeking to return more power to the states. The department launched a process allowing states to seek greater flexibility in using federal education funds and reducing administrative burdens, and Iowa became the first state to participate. A July 2025 letter from the department encouraged states to apply for the waiver, which would give state education officials more discretion over federal dollars and reduce compliance costs.
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