Senate Democrats are blasting Education Secretary Linda McMahon, accusing her of acting unlawfully after she began shifting major federal education programs to other agencies.
The Trump administration said the moves are part of its effort to return more control over education to the states.
In a letter dated Wednesday, Democrat Sens. Patty Murray of Washington, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, and Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, along with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who caucuses with Democrats, said McMahon's reorganization plan is "illegal" and a threat to the department's very existence.
"Your brazen attempt to dismantle the Department by transferring to other federal agencies complex and foundational responsibilities that Congress specifically charged to the Department ... will undermine public education," the lawmakers wrote.
The Democrats argue that moving core responsibilities — including oversight of more than half of all federal K-12 funding and billions in higher education funding — could create administrative chaos for states, school districts, and colleges.
They warned it would force institutions to navigate "even more bureaucracy ... at the expense of students and families."
The letter follows the Education Department's Nov. 18 announcement that it would use interagency agreements to shift functions to the Departments of Labor, Interior, State, and Health and Human Services.
While such agreements are legal, Senate Democrats said they cannot be used with the "express purpose of eventually dismantling the agency or putting the Secretary 'out of a job.'"
McMahon has argued the changes are part of a broader effort to streamline government and return education authority to the states — a long-standing Republican position and a key priority of President Donald Trump, who has pushed for eliminating the department and shifting federally run programs into state hands.
Democrats, however, say the agencies receiving the new responsibilities have provided "no information" on their capacity to manage billions in education funding.
"The plan seems clear — to jam these changes through for a talking point, whatever the consequences may be for states, school districts, schools, students, and families," read the letter, signed by 36 senators.
In March, Trump signed an executive order directing his administration to take "all lawful steps to shut down the department," while preserving what he called essential functions like Pell Grants, Title I support, and disability programs.
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