Ranking Members Scott and Connolly Call for an Immediate Halt to the Illegal Dismantling of ED
Following an executive order eliminating the ED, two top House Democrats call on Secretary of Education to protect already struggling families and students across America.
WASHINGTON – Today, Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, Ranking Member of the Committee on Education and Workforce, and Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter to the Secretary of Education Linda McMahon urging the Department of Education to put the wellbeing of American families and students ahead of tax cuts for billionaires and halt the illegal shutdown of the Department, reinstate all unlawfully terminated employees, and protect education access before irreparable harm comes to our students, schools, and communities.
“We write regarding your and President Trump’s ongoing attacks on our kids, our schools, our communities, and our country’s future. Today, Present Trump issued an executive order unlawfully instructing you to dismantle the Department of Education (the Department), a process that you are already implementing – through, among other means, the so-called reduction in force announced on March 11, 2025 and earlier announced personnel changes that would terminate half of the Department’s more than 4,100 employees,”wrote the Ranking Members.
The Ranking Members continued, “These illegally dismissed employees include individuals tasked with administering funding for programs serving students with disabilities, protecting students from discrimination, and overseeing federal financial aid. Students, teachers, and schools across the country rely on the Department’s important work to ensure that all people are able to access and grow through education, and we have serious doubts the remaining staff at the Department have the capacity to fulfill this mission. We urge you to reverse these short-sighted decisions before they cause any more damage to America’s students, families, and educators.”
In their letter, the Ranking Members call out Secretary McMahon for the Department’s implausible claims that cutting the Department in half will not affect the Department’s work administering student loans, Pell Grants, funding for students with disabilities, or the Department’s numerous competitive grantmaking processes. However, senior officials in the Department have reportedly said that the downsizing will impact “every” sector of the Department, including staff from the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Disruptions to the programs the Department oversees would threaten millions of students at every level of education and in every state.
In addition, the Members noted that Secretary McMahon has explicitly acknowledged that mass firings were the first step to “a total shutdown” of the Department. Despite today’s Executive Order, the Members reminded the Secretary that Congress, not the President or Elon Musk, has the authority to close the Department. Recent polling shows most Americans, across party lines, oppose efforts to eliminate the Department of Education.
“The approximately 1,300 employees who you wish to leave the Department are dedicated public servants who have devoted their careers to serving their country and ensuring that all students are able to learn and to thrive, regardless of race, gender, disability, or zip code. Discarding thousands of civil servants without regard for their job performance is an attack on those hardworking and passionate individuals as well as our government and the critical services it provides,” concluded the Ranking Members.
In addition to demanding the halt of these illegal reductions in force and the reinstatement of all employees improperly terminated, the Ranking Members requested answers to their requests no later than March 27, 2025.
Click here to read the letter to Secretary McMahon.
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