Last week, Rep. Thomas Massie re-introduced a bill that seeks to abolish the U.S. Department of Education.
The one-sentence bill was re-introduced by Massie, a Republican representing Kentucky, on Friday. According to H.R. 899’s text, the Department of Education would be abolished on Dec. 31, 2026.
The agency, which provides billions of dollars each year to low-income public schools and billions more to help millions of Americans pay for college, has been targeted by Republicans for decades.
“Unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. should not be in charge of our children’s intellectual and moral development,” Massie said in a press release. “States and local communities are best positioned to shape curricula that meet the needs of their students.”
Massie re-introduced the bill to the House after originally proposing the same bill during the first Trump administration in 2017.
Not the first time Department of Education has faced opposition
Republicans have opposed the Department of Education since its establishment by Former President Jimmy Carter in 1979. During Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign in 1980, he proposed dismantling the department.
President Donald Trump also campaigned against the Department of Education during the 2024 election.
“We want federal education dollars to follow the student, rather than propping up a bloated and radical bureaucracy in Washington, D.C.,” he said in October. “We want to close the federal Department of Education.”
In November, Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota introduced a bill in the Senate to abolish the Department of Education he called the “Returning Education to Our States Act.”
The bill was referred to the Senate Committee of Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions but did not progress any further.
Department of Education officials suspended after Trump takes office
Dozens of U.S. Department of Education officials were suddenly put on paid administrative leave Friday night, their union said, due to Trump’s executive order banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government.
Sheria Smith, president and chief negotiator of AFGE Local 252, which represents nearly 3,000 Education Department employees, told USA TODAY that at least 60 employees received notices on Friday.
Contributing: Zachary Schermele and Terry Collins
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected] and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rep. Thomas Massie re-introduces bill to abolish Education Department
