Education Back to the States: Trump Administration Delivers on Long-Standing Conservative Goal

The Trump administration took one of its most aggressive steps yet toward dismantling the U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday, announcing a sweeping set of inter-agency agreements designed to shift major responsibilities to other federal departments and ultimately return education authority to the states.

The restructuring, unveiled by Education Secretary Linda McMahon, transfers key programs to the Departments of Labor, Interior, Health and Human Services, and State. The administration framed the move as an effort to “break federal bureaucracy,” streamline overlapping responsibilities, and significantly reduce Washington’s footprint in America’s classrooms.

The announcement is consistent with the administration’s broader goal: shrinking a department long criticized by conservatives as bloated, unaccountable, and duplicative. In October, Education Department spokeswoman Madi Biedermann previewed this direction bluntly: “Secretary McMahon has been very clear that her goal is to put herself out of a job by shutting down the Department of Education and returning education to the states.”

Six Partnerships, One Direction: Away From Washington

According to the department, the six new agreements will shift responsibilities including:

• K-12 and postsecondary programs to the Department of Labor, aligning federal education efforts more closely with workforce needs.
• Tribal education programs to the Department of the Interior, which already oversees the Bureau of Indian Education.
• Foreign medical school accreditation and on-campus childcare programs to the Department of Health and Human Services.
• International education and foreign-language programs to the Department of State, reflecting the agency’s global mission.

Administration officials argue that these shifts will reduce duplication, eliminate outdated oversight structures, and place decisions closer to the communities affected by them. Secretary McMahon said the partnerships “cut through layers of red tape in Washington” and represent the beginning of “a new era of state-driven education policy.”

A Bureaucracy Preparing Its Own Sunset

While the move may strike some as unusual — a federal agency voluntarily reducing its power — it aligns with decades of conservative criticism of the Department of Education, created in 1979. What makes this moment different is the department’s active participation in its own downsizing.

McMahon has been clear that the department’s end goal is to make itself obsolete, a stance that has drawn both praise and alarm depending on the political audience. Supporters argue the federal government’s role in education has drifted from oversight into intrusion; critics warn that transferring patchwork responsibilities could create inconsistencies among states and reduce federal protections for vulnerable student populations.

Praise From the Right

The response from conservative circles has been overwhelmingly positive.
The Wall Street Journal offered especially high praise, writing that McMahon should be considered Trump’s “Cabinet Secretary of the Year.”

“How often does anyone in Washington acknowledge that a bureaucracy has failed and take appropriate steps to try to protect Americans from further damage?” the editorial board wrote. “Kudos to Linda McMahon for working to send power over education back to local communities where it belongs.”

Republican strategist Christian Martinez reacted quickly on social media, calling it a “massive step toward moving education BACK TO THE STATES where it belongs.” Martinez added that the 43-day Democrat-led shutdown earlier this year “proved America’s schools run just fine without DC bureaucrats.”

What This Means for Nevada

For Nevada, where education outcomes and funding formulas have long been contentious, the shift could bring both newfound flexibility and new pressure.

State leaders would gain greater autonomy to shape standards, accountability systems, and program design without federal directives. But the state would also take on greater responsibility for oversight, administration, and ensuring continuity for programs once managed in Washington.

Local officials are already reviewing which federal functions are shifting and how Nevada’s Department of Education may need to adapt.

A Turning Point in Federal Education Policy

Whether the Department of Education is ultimately dissolved remains to be seen. But Tuesday’s announcement marks the most significant step in that direction since the agency’s creation.

What is clear is that the Trump administration is committed to shrinking federal control and believes states, not Washington, should define the future of American education.

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