Trump begins process of redistributing Department of Education’s duties

President Donald Trump announced Friday that several of the Department of Education’s (ED) duties are being transferred to other agencies.

Student loans will now be handled by the Small Business Administration (SBA) “immediately,” while special needs and nutrition programs will be moved to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the president said at a press event Friday. The redistribution comes after Trump signed an executive order Thursday to begin the dismantling of ED.

“I think that will work out very well,” Trump said. “Those two elements will be taken out of the Department of Education.”

🚨 President Trump announces that the SBA will begin handling student loans — and that HHS will handle the special needs and nutrition programs.

“Coming out of the Department of Education immediately.” pic.twitter.com/2gbz2n2Q7s

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 21, 2025

“All we have to do is get the students to get guidance from the people that love them and cherish them, including their parents,” President Trump continued.

In response to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment, HHS referred to a post on X by department Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. stating the agency is ready to accept Trump’s plan.

“[HHS] is fully prepared to take on the responsibility of supporting individuals with special needs and overseeing nutrition programs that were ran by [ED],” Kennedy said. “We are committed to ensuring every American has access to the resources they need to thrive. We will make the care of our most vulnerable citizens our highest national priority. Together, we will Make America Healthy Again.”

The decision to begin the abolition of the education department is part of a larger effort to return educational decisions to states, local governments and parents. Thursday’s order tasks newly-confirmed Education Secretary Linda McMahon “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law, take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities.”

Opposition to the federal Department of Education stem from the agency’s failure to deliver on its intended mission: the academic success of students.

Student test scores have reached some of the lowest levels ever recorded in the U.S., according to a January report from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), with one-third of eighth graders failing to reach the NAEP’s reading assessment benchmark in 2024, the largest percentage ever recorded, and 40% of fourth grade students tested below NAEP’s reading proficiency, the largest percentage since 2002.

Part of the department’s failures can be traced to its increased focus on social justice issues over education. Under the Biden administration, the Department of Justice (DOJ) poured over $100,000,000 into DEI efforts for K-12 schools, funding projects aimed toward “LGBTQ inclusion” in which “anti-racism and anti-oppression are embedded.”

Trump immediately sought to eliminate a number of radical topics from schools once inaugurated, signing a series of executive orders banning critical race theory, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and gender ideology from federally-funded schools.

The White House, ED, SBA and HHS did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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