Trump Administration Revamps Education Department, Shifts Functions and Headquarters
The Trump administration has initiated a multi-faceted plan to reassign responsibilities from the U.S. Education Department to other federal agencies and relocate the department's headquarters. These changes involve transferring management of the federal student loan portfolio, reassigning operational duties for various education programs, and moving staff to a smaller facility. The administration states these actions aim to improve efficiency, leverage specialized expertise, and reduce the federal education footprint.
Transfer of Departmental Functions
The administration announced plans to reassign significant functions of the U.S. Education Department to other federal agencies, covering areas such as elementary and secondary education, postsecondary education, and Indian education. Six new agreements between the Education Department and other agencies have been finalized.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon stated that the administration's strategy is to "peel back the layers of federal bureaucracy by partnering with agencies that are better suited to manage programs and empowering states and local leaders to oversee the rest," describing these partnerships as "commonplace across the federal government to improve service delivery and increase efficiency."
This follows a July agreement where the Labor Department assumed responsibility for adult education and family literacy programs.
Specific Reassignments Include:
- U.S. Department of Labor: Will assume much of the work from the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, including the management of Title I, and a substantial portion of the Office of Postsecondary Education's responsibilities.
- U.S. Department of the Interior: Will take over the majority of the work from the Office of Indian Education.
- U.S. Department of State: Will manage international education and foreign language studies programs.
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): Will become responsible for the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program.
Certain core responsibilities, such as special education and student civil rights enforcement, were not included in these specific agreements.
Student Loan Portfolio Management Shift
A separate three-phase plan was announced to transfer the management and responsibility for the federal student loan portfolio, valued at nearly $1.7 trillion, from the U.S. Education Department to the U.S. Treasury Department. The administration cited Treasury's financial expertise as better suited to manage the portfolio and assist borrowers. Education Secretary Linda McMahon stated that the Education Department "failed to effectively manage and deliver" these programs. This transition marks the tenth interagency agreement dispersing the department's responsibilities.
Phases of the Transfer:
- Phase One: Treasury will assume control of collecting on defaulted student loans. As of early March, 9.2 million borrowers were in default, with an additional 2.4 million in late-stage delinquency.
- Phase Two: Treasury's management will expand to include servicing a portion of the Education Department's non-defaulted debts, as assessed for practicability.
- Phase Three: Treasury will assume administration of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The Treasury Department currently contributes to FAFSA through its data-retrieval tool for income verification.
Education Department officials have indicated that borrowers "should see no change" and that the transition "should be seamless."
Headquarters Relocation and Staffing Changes
The U.S. Department of Education announced its staff would vacate the Lyndon B. Johnson building, its longtime Washington, D.C., headquarters, citing approximately 70% vacancy. The building is scheduled for transfer to the Department of Energy, which currently occupies an "outdated" facility. This move is projected to save over $350 million in deferred maintenance costs.
Education Department staff are scheduled to relocate to a smaller office building at 500 D Street SW in August. Education Secretary Linda McMahon stated the move represents a "critical step in returning education to the states" and reflects progress in reducing the federal education footprint. Secretary McMahon has overseen a reduction in the department's staff by nearly half, to 2,300 employees.
Congressional and Legal Concerns
The offices designated for these transfers were originally established within the Education Department by Congress in 1979. The administration is proceeding with these reassignments without explicit congressional consent.
Opponents of these changes assert that the White House lacks the legal authority to transfer functions of offices created and explicitly placed within the Education Department by Congress without congressional approval.
Rachel Gittleman, president of AFGE Local 252, which represents Education Department employees, stated that the administration is "unlawfully dismantl[ing] the Education Department" and that the Education Secretary lacks the authority to do so without congressional approval.
Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), ranking member of the House education committee, stated that the headquarters move "does not reduce bureaucracy but rather rearranges it" and suggested it reflects efforts to lessen the federal government's role in ensuring equal access to education.
Education Department officials acknowledge that the Treasury Department cannot fully assume all statutory student loan obligations and that Congress is the sole entity with the power to close the Education Department, which was established in 1979. The department has maintained in briefings that the statutory responsibilities for these programs would remain with the department, even if operational work is conducted by other agencies. However, the legality of maintaining a reduced departmental staff in partnership with other agencies regarding compliance with federal law remains uncertain.
Lindsey Burke, the department's deputy chief of staff for policy and programs, who led one of the briefings, previously co-authored the education section of Project 2025, which advocates for the elimination of the U.S. Department of Education, stating: "The federal Department of Education should be eliminated. When power is exercised, it should empower students and families, not government." Legal challenges opposing these moves are anticipated.