Trump order to dismantle the education department in the works, sources say
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump could soon sign an executive order directing the secretary of education to dismantle the federal Department of Education, according to sources briefed on drafts of the order that have circulated among top administration officials.
The proposed order gutting the agency is expected to call for the education secretary to submit a proposal for dismantling the department and for Congress to pass legislation to get rid of it.
The timing on when Trump plans to sign the order remains unclear, but sources familiar with the process told ABC News that conversations about the future of the department have been actively occurring.
Closing down the department would be an extraordinary move that would help Trump inch closer to fulfilling the promise that he made for months on the campaign trail: dismantling it and sending education policy back to the states.
But any executive action is likely to ask for a plan to shut down the department, but not an immediate directive to shut down the department, sources told ABC News.
It’s also unclear how the next education secretary would handle plans to close the department and reallocate its functions. Trump’s education secretary choice Linda McMahon has not yet had a Senate confirmation hearing. A bill in the Senate to shutter the department would likely fail without a two-thirds majority vote.
Trump and department skeptics have said they believe the agency has too much spending power — more than $20 billion in the 2025 fiscal year — without adequate academic results. The Nation’s Report Card highlighted the widening achievement gap and sliding reading scores for fourth- and eighth-grade students.
Trump last week signed executive orders defending parental rights and prioritizing universal school choice, combating antisemitism and cutting federal funding for K-12 “indoctrination.”
Conservatives dating back to President Ronald Reagan have campaigned on the promise of closing the Education Department. It’s also recently become a bicameral push from Republicans on Capitol Hill.
The news comes as dozens of Department of Education employees received letters placing them on administrative paid leave over the weekend as the department takes steps to issue unprecedented reform.
Trump’s rhetoric — including threatening for months to shutter the department — has now made some department employees worried about the agency’s future, according to an employee who said they’ve been placed on administrative leave from their “dream job.”
“It feels like it could happen, so it’s very disturbing,” the employee said.
(PALM BEACH, FL) — House Speaker Mike Johnson is spending New Year’s Day with President-elect Donald Trump ahead of a showdown vote later this week to keep his leadership post.
Johnson told Louisiana-based radio station News Radio 710 KEEL that he would spend the day Wednesday with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
“We’re going to map out some strategy, and he wanted to take photos and do a big endorsement on that day,” Johnson told the station in a story published on Tuesday. “I called him yesterday and said, ‘Mr. President, let’s go ahead and do that,’, so he did.”
ABC News has reached out to Johnson’s office for comment.
Trump endorsed Johnson on Monday, calling on Republicans to unite and “not blow” the opportunity after maintaining House control and winning a majority in the Senate in the November elections.
Johnson, who angered some in his own party during last month’s legislative fight to fund the government and avoid the shutdown, might be able to lose only one member’s support during Friday’s vote — depending on attendance.
While Trump’s endorsement was a win for Johnson, some hardline Republicans are still skeptical he will have the support to get reelected as speaker. One of Johnson’s opponents, Kentucky GOP Rep. Thomas Massie, has doubled down that he still does not plan to vote for him even after Trump’s endorsement.
Trump told ABC News White House Correspondent MaryAlice Parks on Tuesday night that he believes Republicans will back Johnson, saying he’s “the one that can win right now.”
Still, Trump went on to suggest dozens of lawmakers don’t “like” Johnson, who ascended to the top post last year after Republican infighting led to the historic ouster of then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
“I think we’re going to have a great time in Washington, and I think we’re going to get great support, and he’s the one that can win right now. People like him. Almost everybody likes him. Others are very good too, but they have 30 or 40 people that don’t like him, so that’s pretty tough,” Trump said.
When asked if he’s calling other members of Congress in support of Johnson, Trump said he would if needed.
“If necessary, but I think really, we’re going to have a great time. We’re going to get a successful vote. He’s a good man. He’s a very wonderful person, and that’s what you need,” the president-elect said.
There are roughly 15 House Republicans by ABC News’ count who are undecided on whether they’ll vote for Johnson.
No one has come out to publicly challenge Johnson for speaker. Indiana GOP Rep. Victoria Spartz, though, told Fox News on Monday that some of her colleagues are interested in the speakership though she wouldn’t provide names.
“I hope we have it [a speaker] before January 6th,” Spartz said. Jan. 6 marks the date that the 2024 election results will be certified by Congress.
House Republican leadership on Wednesday published an op-ed on Fox News also pleaded with their conference to stick together so they can deliver on Trump’s campaign promises — noting the challenges of their narrow House majority.
“The American people cannot afford to wait for relief when their lives and livelihoods are at stake. As the Republican leadership in Congress, we have prepared an aggressive plan to remove any roadblocks and provide a glidepath for President Trump’s reforms and policy agenda,” wrote Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Majority Whip Tom Emmer and Republican Conference Chairwoman-elect Lisa McClain.
They added, “To implement that vision, we must remain united.”
ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday thanked supporters during a virtual call and vowed that the “fight’s not over” in her first remarks since conceding defeat to President-elect Donald Trump three weeks ago.
“The fight that fueled our campaign, a fight for freedom and opportunity, that did not end on Nov. 5. A fight for the dignity of all people? That did not end on Nov. 5,” Harris said. “A fight for the future, a future in which all people receive the promise of America No. A fight that is about a fight for the ideals of our nation, the ideals that reflect the promise of America That fight’s not over.”
“That fight’s still in us, and it burns strong,” Harris later added. “And I know this is an uncertain time. I’m clear-eyed about that. I know you’re clear-eyed about it, and it feels heavy. And I just have to remind you: Don’t you ever let anybody take your power from you. You have the same power that you did before Nov. 5 and you have the same purpose that you did and you have the same ability to engage and inspire. So don’t ever let anybody or any circumstance take your power from you.”
The grassroots call came immediately after Harris held a call with her campaign’s finance committee. The finance call was attended by more than 400 donors, according to a source familiar.
On the grassroots call, Harris also briefly discussed the historic sum of money that ran her campaign, though she did not address what went wrong as she and her campaign face intense scrutiny over how they could raise that money and lose to Trump so resolutely.
”The outcome of this election, obviously, is not what we wanted. It is not what we work so hard for,” Harris said. “But I am proud of the race we ran. And your role in this was critical. What we did in 107 days was unprecedented.”
Harris said that over the course of those 100-plus days, her campaign raised $1.4 billion, much of which was from grassroot donors: “Nearly 8 million donors contributed an average donation of about $56.”
“You gave all that you could to support our campaign. Because of your efforts — get this — we raised an historic $1.4 billion, almost $1.5 billion from grassroots supporters alone, the most in presidential campaign history,” she said.
“Being involved can make a difference, and that remains true. And that’s one of the pieces that I just want us to please take away — that our fight for freedom and for opportunity and for the promise of America, it included, for example, nearly almost 4 million first-time contributors to our campaign because of the work you did, of helping people know that they can be engaged and that they’re not outside, that they’re inside, that we’re all in this together,” she added.
Harris was joined by her former running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, on both calls — a rare appearance from the two, though Harris joined the call from San Francisco and Walz from Minnesota.
Walz on the grassroot donor call also spoke to supporters’ feeling of loss following the election and repeated Harris’ claims that she is not finished with fighting.
“I think all of us saw the possibility, and I know there’s a bit of a feeling of loss because we saw what a real leader looks like,” Walz said.
“She did deliver the best of our better angels,” he added. “She delivered a vision where all of us mattered. She did it with grace and dignity and continues to do that every single day. She is still in this fight. She is doing it every single day. She is not done with her current job. She’s not done being part of it with all of you.”
Harris’ and Walz’s remarks follow some postelection analysis from Harris campaign senior officials during an episode of “Pod Save America” that aired on Tuesday, including some reaction to finances.
Harris campaign Chairwoman Jennifer O’Malley Dillon said that during the cycle, the bulk of the campaign’s spending was used to reach out to “very-hard-to-find voters,” including low-propensity and young voters, while investing across all swing states because polling reflected that each was in play.
“We were trying to, yes, spend more resources on digital … because we’re trying to find young people, we’re trying to find these lower-propensity voters that were tuned out to politics,” O’Malley Dillon said.
“We had some unique things that we had to do in this race that I think were really critical to do early and spent a lot of resources at an earlier stage than we would have to,” she added, noting those resources were spent on both advertising and field programming. “We saw, up until the very end, that … every single state was in such a margin of error. There was nothing that told us we couldn’t play in one of these states.”
During the podcast, O’Malley Dillon and senior campaign adviser David Plouffe accused the Trump campaign of coordinating with its super PACs, a practice that is not legal, but noted the Democrats need to take note and do the same.
“We have to stop playing a different game as it relates to super PACs and the Republicans. Love our Democratic lawyers. I’m tired of it, OK? They coordinate more than we do. I think amongst themselves, I think with the presidential campaign, like I’m just sick and tired, OK? So, we cannot be at a disadvantage,” Plouffe said.
“I think our side was completely mismatched when it came to the ecosystem of Trump and his super PACs and ours,” O’Malley Dillon said.
“We had a super PAC that was helpful, very important and necessary for the work that they did because they were the kind of central recipients of a lot of the funding on our side and they staked a strategy and a plan, and we clearly could see it, and we knew what it was [going] to spend, but we did not have the ability to have people come in with us early. And so every ounce of advertising, every ounce of carrying these strategic imperatives, of defining the vice president and trying to bring down Trump’s numbers, all sat with us as a campaign,” O’Malley Dillon added.
Harris has rarely been seen since she delivered her concession speech at Howard University the day after the election. She attended the Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery a week later and was seen making her first return to the White House a day after that. The vice president also spent the last week on vacation in Hawaii.
Walz, in the month since the election, has remained almost entirely out of the national spotlight, resuming his duties as the governor of Minnesota.
He delivered his final speech of the 2024 campaign cycle on Nov. 8 from suburban Minneapolis, joining a chorus of fellow Democratic governors who said they would protect their states from threats to reproductive freedoms, citizenship and other things under the Trump administration. The former vice presidential nominee also said he’d work to find common ground with swaths of people who voted “for the other side” on Nov. 5.
Harris and Walz remained mostly separate on the campaign trail in the roughly 15 weeks she had him as her running mate. The governor was present at Harris’ concession speech at Howard University the night after the election but did not speak or publicly interact with her. Before that, the two held a joint rally on Oct. 28 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, their first event together since late August, when they were seen together in Savannah, Georgia, on a bus tour.
Prior to that, their last time at a rally together was in Milwaukee for programming linked to the Democratic National Convention in August.
(NEW YORK) — President Donald Trump said he wants Marty Makary, a Johns Hopkins surgeon and author who argued against pandemic lockdowns, to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“He will work under the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to, among other things, properly evaluate harmful chemicals poisoning our Nation’s food supply and drugs and biologics being given to our Nation’s youth, so that we can finally address the Childhood Chronic Disease Epidemic,” Trump said in his announcement.
If confirmed by the Senate, Makary’s job would be to oversee the FDA’s $7 billion budget and report to the health secretary. The agency oversees $3.6 trillion in food, tobacco and medical products, including some 20,000 prescription drugs on the market.
Here are three things to know about Makary:
Makary is a respected transplant surgeon who questioned his colleagues’ recommendations on COVID
Makary was known during the pandemic as an experienced medical expert willing to challenge his colleagues’ assumptions on COVID, although he was often criticized by his peers for cherry-picking data or omitting context.
He frequently appeared on Fox News and wrote opinion articles that questioned the value of lockdowns and masks for children. He supported the use of vaccines but opposed mandates and doubted the utility of boosters, at odds with full-throated recommendations on boosters from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Among his views was that the U.S. government was underestimating the number of people who were likely immune to the virus. In early 2021, he predicted much of the country would reach “herd immunity” by that April, reducing risk of the virus dramatically.
That assumption, however, did not happen.
As restrictions eased and a new variant surfaced, virus-related deaths soared from about 4,000 a week to about 15,000 a week by September, making 2021 a deadlier year than when the pandemic began.
Makary stood by his assertion that “natural immunity” was still being underestimated by the U.S. government.
“One reason public health officials may be afraid to acknowledge the effectiveness of natural immunity is that they fear it will lead some to choose getting the infection over vaccination. That’s a legitimate concern. But we can encourage all Americans to get vaccinated while still being honest about the data,” he wrote a separate opinion article in The Washington Post.
He sounds a lot like RFK Jr. when talking about the ‘poisoned’ food supply, pesticides and ultra-processed foods.
After the pandemic, Makary began turning back to his initial focus railing against an overpriced health care system. He’s long argued that the system is broken, overcharging patients and running unnecessary tests.
He also began speaking more critically about America’s food system, echoing a message embraced by Trump’s pick for health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“We’ve got a poisoned food supply. We’ve got pesticides. We’ve got ultra-processed foods and all sorts of things that have been in the blind spots in modern medicine,” Makary told Fox News this September.
Kennedy also would require Senate confirmation to get the job.
In a later interview, Makary praised Trump’s decision to pick Kennedy.
“He wants to address corruption in health care and corruption in our government health agencies,” he said.
He warns against ‘drugging our nation’s children.’
It’s not clear exactly what Makary would do if confirmed as FDA commissioner, as much of his work would likely be steered by Trump and the incoming health secretary, possibly Kennedy.
But Makary has previously suggested an overhaul of FDA’s “erratic” bureaucracy, which he says was too eager to approve opioids and too cautious when it came to other drugs like the COVID antiviral pill Molnupiravir.
“For too long, FDA leaders have acted like a crusty librarian who gets annoyed when someone wants to borrow a book. But then give preference to people they like,” Makary wrote in a 2021 opinion article in Fox News.
More recently, he’s called for a ban on cell phones on schools, and praised Kennedy for questioning the use of anti-anxiety and anti-obesity drugs in children.
“What he is really focused on is this concept that we can’t keep drugging our nation’s children,” Makary said of Kennedy.
When asked if Kennedy can accomplish what he wants to do in four years, Makary told Fox News he’ll try by bringing in more scientists and letting “them do good work.”
Kennedy “is really the quintessential environmental health attorney of our era, and that may be the quintessential issue of our era,” Makary said.