Sponsors
The bill shifts primary control of education from the federal Department of Education to states and other agencies, aiming for local control and administrative savings but at the cost of reduced federal funding, potential weakening of civil‑rights protections, and substantial transitional disruption that could harm disadvantaged students and impose new burdens on states and taxpayers.
State and local governments, schools, and parents regain primary authority over K–12 policymaking and face fewer federal regulations, increasing local control over curricula and standards.
Federal education research and program functions are consolidated (Office of Education in HHS / PHS Office), which could improve coordination across health and education programs and reduce administrative duplication.
Moving Office for Civil Rights into DOJ may give OCR staff access to DOJ legal resources and prosecutorial tools, potentially strengthening enforcement of federal civil-rights laws in education.
Students in low-income, rural, and disadvantaged communities face reduced federal funding and protections (e.g., Title I, Part D, special education), likely widening resource gaps and educational disparities.
Transferring civil-rights enforcement to DOJ could weaken education-specific remedies and technical assistance, shift complaint handling toward law‑enforcement approaches, and raise privacy/civil‑liberty concerns for students and families.
States, localities, and taxpayers will likely face increased fiscal and administrative burdens to replace federal programs and compliance functions, potentially forcing local tax increases or cuts to services.
Based on analysis of 14 sections of legislative text.
Terminates the Department of Education (Oct 1, 2026), transfers many functions to HHS and DOJ, phases out select federal K–12 programs by 2036, and ends most new PLUS loans after Oct 1, 2026.
Introduced March 27, 2025 by Nathaniel Moran · Last progress March 27, 2025
Terminates the U.S. Department of Education and shifts many of its programs and functions to other federal agencies, primarily creating an Office of Education within HHS and moving the Office for Civil Rights to the Department of Justice, with the termination effective October 1, 2026. It requires the President to produce an orderly liquidation plan within 180 days, preserves existing orders, grants, contracts, and legal proceedings during the transfer, allows grant recipients to decline transferred funds, phases out certain K–12 federal programs by 2036, and ends new Federal Direct PLUS Loans for most borrowers for periods of instruction beginning on or after October 1, 2026 (with narrow grandfathering).