Trump's Politically Insane Decision to Shut Down the Dept. of Education
Trump may have just handed Democrats an issue than break through all of the noise.
Every day, Donald Trump does several unprecedented, potentially unconstitutional, deeply damaging, and politically insane things. It is impossible to talk, write, podcast, and protest about all of them—which is the point. As everyone (especially me) has mentioned ad nauseum, Trump is employing a “Flood the Zone” strategy to disorient and exhaust the opposition.
Democrats must discern when to swing; and yesterday, Trump threw a hanging pitch right over the plate for Democrats.
At a White House ceremony, Trump signed an executive order abolishing the Department of Education. This move could not be more politically toxic. Eliminating the Department of Education may break through in ways that the destruction of USAID, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Institute of Peace did not. Unlike those agencies, there is a long history of GOP efforts to eliminate the Education Department and excellent public opinion research on the subject.
It’s worth noting that Trump does not have the power to unilaterally shut down a federal agency created by statute. It would require an act of Congress that would be unlikely to pass the House and have zero chance of surviving a Senate filibuster. But Trump and Musk do hold immense power, and they can still do tremendous damage to public education.
Given our limited leverage and lack of actual power, the best thing Democrats can do to slow the carnage is make Trump unpopular. An unpopular Trump struggles to pass his agenda and gets less support from stakeholders to dismantle the government. Most importantly, an unpopular Trump is more likely to lose control of Congress in the midterms. A focus on abolishing the Department of Education could help accomplish that strategic objective.
This post is part of a series about the various strategies and tactics Democrats — from leadership down to activists — can employ to make Trump more unpopular. Sign up here if you want to follow along and participate in the conversation.
If you found this post helpful, please spread the word by sharing it far and wide on social media and in your group chats.
A Brief History of Republican Efforts to Abolish the U.S. Department of Education
Donald Trump is not the first Republican to try to abolish the Department of Education. Ronald Reagan campaigned on the idea and tried repeatedly to shut the department down. However, the idea was always too unpopular and controversial to go anywhere. Reagan didn’t have sufficient political capital to move the ball forward even after winning 525 electoral votes in 1984.
Newt Gingrich resuscitated the idea in the 1990s. Abolishing the Department of Education was part of his Contract for America policy agenda that fueled the Republicans taking over the House for the first time in 50 decades. Once again the Republicans failed. In fact, abolishing the Department of Education became so associated with the Republican’s extreme policy agenda that, in 2000, George W. Bush proposed increasing funding for education as part of his No Child Left Behind initiative.
Here we are 25 years later, and Trump is becoming the latest Republican to stick his hand into the meat grinder.
Shutting Down the Department of Education is Unpopular
I know it feels like Trump has turned politics on its head. He skates over controversies that would devastate any other politician, but politics hasn’t changed that much. Trump cannot defy political gravity for long. The unpopular positions, souring economy, and misguided priorities that sank other presidents are beginning to weigh down Trump as well.
And the politics of shutting down the Department of Education is another massive leak in his boat.
A Data for Progress poll conducted for the Student Borrower Protection Center and Groundwork Collaborative found that abolishing the Department of Education is broadly opposed by just about every demographic group.
![Polling data showing A Majority of Voters Across Age and Education Lines Oppose an Executive Action to Abolish the U.S. Department of Education. January 31 to February 2, 2025 survey of 1,294 U.S. likely voters. [Groundwork Collaborative logo] [Data for Progress logo] [Student Borrower Protection Center logo]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F82cc3a79-5420-4a4e-96f0-186206180eac_1200x694.png "Polling data showing A Majority of Voters Across Age and Education Lines Oppose an Executive Action to Abolish the U.S. Department of Education. January 31 to February 2, 2025 survey of 1,294 U.S. likely voters. [Groundwork Collaborative logo] [Data for Progress logo] [Student Borrower Protection Center logo]")
A Reuters/Ipsos poll similarly found that 65% of voters and 40% of Republicans opposed the move.
Finally, an Economist/YouGov poll showed that 39% of Americans want to expand the department, while only 17% want it eliminated.
Trump is playing with political fire, and Democrats have an opportunity to drive a message that may burn him to the ground.
Persuade Your Friends and Family
How do we discuss the issue with friends and family, on social media, and in group chats? Take this bit of guidance:
Keep It Big Picture: Talk about gutting public education or shutting down the Department of Education instead of talking about reduced funding;
Be Specific About the Cuts: Abolishing the Department of Education means teacher layoffs, larger classroom sizes, more dilapidated schools, and cuts to special education; and
Explain Why the Cuts Are Happening: Donald Trump and the Republicans are gutting public education to pay for tax cuts for billionaires like Elon Musk.
I’ve been in politics for far too long, and I cannot emphasize enough the political toxicity of trying to shut down the Department of Education. Trump should pay a price for this, but he only will if Democrats make the case.
Your friend and colleague Ben Rhodes wrote a column making the same point in today’s New York Times.
Quote: Nika Kovac, a 31-year-old activist from Slovenia, has led successful movements against authoritarian politics in Europe. “When you want to fight them,” she said, “you have to build huge coalitions around one particular topic, when they are attacking something that really matters to people.” Looking at the United States, she volunteered health care as a place to start.
“The thing that is making him powerful now is he’s thinking that nothing can stop him,” Ms. Kovac said. “You need one victory.” When you get that win, people start to feel that they still have power because of what they did together.
The law of averages means something has to stick sooner or later. Maybe it's the Dept. of Ed, maybe not. I think when all those folks who got hammered by storms and fires in the Midwest and South realize that FEMA isn't around any more and that their Medicaid/Medicare won't help them and their SS checks don't arrive, that will be the straw that breaks the proverbial back. I'm not sure about anything else.