[6] The 2023 budget was $274 billion, which included funding for children with disabilities (IDEA), pandemic recovery, early childhood education, Pell Grants, Title I, work assistance, among other programs.

In February 2025, it was implied that President Donald Trump would prepare an executive order to effectively abolish or curtail the department.

[22] Carter also planned to transfer the education-related functions of the departments of Defense, Justice, Housing and Urban Development, and Agriculture, as well as a few other federal entities.

[29] In the 1982 State of the Union Address, he pledged: "The budget plan I submit to you on Feb. 8 will realize major savings by dismantling the Department of Education.

With the election of President George H. W. Bush in 1988, the Republican position evolved in almost lockstep with that of the Democrats, with Goals 2000 a virtual joint effort.

That trend continued unabated despite the fact that the Republican Party made abolition of the department a cornerstone of 1996 platform and campaign promises, calling it an inappropriate federal intrusion into local, state, and family affairs.

[29] The GOP platform read: "The Federal government has no constitutional authority to be involved in school curricula or to control jobs in the market place.

This is why we will abolish the Department of Education, end federal meddling in our schools, and promote family choice at all levels of learning.

Abolition of the organization was not pursued under the George W. Bush administration, which made reform of federal education a key priority of the president's first term.

[31]Under President George W. Bush, the department primarily focused on elementary and secondary education, expanding its reach through the No Child Left Behind Act.

Trump emphasized that McMahon's primary objective would be to dismantle the Department of Education, stating, "I want her to put herself out of a job.

NBC News said, "Given their narrow majority, Republicans would need Democratic support to do that, which would make it unlikely for such a bill to pass.

"[36] On February 7, after their request for a meeting with the acting secretary got no response, Democratic members of Congress attempted to enter the Department of Education but were denied access.