(WASHINGTON) — South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds introduced the “Bringing Education Back to Our States Act” on Thursday, signaling a commitment to fulfilling President-elect Donald Trump’s vow to dismantle the Department of Education. ‘Education.

In the conservative push to return education to local control, Rounds said the legislation would “eliminate” the department while redistributing all essential federal programs to other agencies.

Rounds’ announcement was first reported by Fox News.

“For years, I have worked to eliminate the federal Department of Education,” the Republican senator wrote in a statement, adding “I am pleased that President-elect Trump shares this vision, and I am excited to work with he and Republican majorities in the Senate and House to make this a reality This legislation is a road map to eliminating the federal Department of Education by virtually moving these federal programs into the departments where they belong, which will be essential. as we approach next year.

In his statement, Rounds said the United States spends too much on education that student test scores lag behind other countries on standardized assessments. He called the DOE ineffective and assigned the department’s responsibilities to the Departments of Interior, Treasury, Health and Human Services, Labor and State, according to the bill’s text.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and assistance programs under Title VIII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act will be transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of the Indian education from the Department of Education will be transferred to the Department of Education. of Interior, the Federal Pell Grant and other higher education loan programs will be transferred to the Treasury Department.

Under the bill, the Treasury Department will award block grants to states for elementary and secondary education and postsecondary education. The Secretary of the Treasury also has the authority to withhold these funds if they are mismanaged by states. The Justice Department will oversee federal civil rights laws that previously fell under Title VI.

Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie told ABC News Thursday morning that he will also introduce legislation to abolish the DOE in the “first weeks” of the 119th Congress.

“There will only be one sentence – the only thing that will change is the date: the Department of Education will end on December 31, 2026,” Massie told ABC News.

Massie has been pushing to defund the U.S. Department of Education since early 2023, when he introduced H.R. 899. Massie’s bill did not come to a vote in the House last year.

However, education analyst Neal McCluskey of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, argued that Massie’s one-sentence bill was unrealistic.

“You have to figure out what to do with all the legislation that feeds into the Department of Education,” McCluskey said.

“If Congress were to pass this law that says abolish the Department of Education, technically the department would disappear, but then you would have all sorts of questions about, well, who is going to administer or be administrator of all these programs? , he said.

In March 2023, Massie authored H.Amendment 124 in H.R. 5, the “Parents Bill of Rights Act” – the House’s signature K-12 education policy – ​​to abolish the department. This amendment failed as all Democrats and 60 Republicans in the House voted against it.

Here are ways to empty the department

Even if Republicans hold majorities in both chambers in the next Congress, the Senate typically needs 60 votes to do anything, according to McCluskey. McCluskey said, “There’s no chance they’re going to make it to 60, and so it’s going to be difficult (to abolish the department through legislation).” »

“The Department of Education administers a lot of laws, and then those laws have to be changed about who administers student aid and who is responsible for making decisions about canceling student debt, and who decides or who administers Title I and many other federal programs,” McCluskey told ABC News.

“He (President-elect Trump) can certainly use his position as a bully to advance this issue. He could provide legislative projects if he wished. But ultimately it has to go through Congress,” McCluskey emphasized.

Meanwhile, Augustus Mays, vice president of partnerships and engagement at advocacy group The Education Trust, told ABC News that the president-elect could also ask Congress to eliminate federal programs such as Title 1, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and others. , in its congressional budget request.

Public education, particularly in districts with the greatest need, would effectively be deprived of millions of dollars, according to Mays.

“It would really cripple the ability to function and facilitate the support that these students need to really succeed academically,” Mays said.

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