McMahon: Shutdown Proves ‘Department of Education in Unnecessary’
Two weeks in, millions of American students are still going to school, teachers are getting paid, and schools are operating as normal.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said on X that the government shutdown has proven we don’t need an education department.
I would argue the shutdown has shown we don’t need the majority of the government!
McMahon wrote:
The Democrat government shutdown has forced agencies to evaluate what federal responsibilities are truly critical for the American people. Two weeks in, millions of American students are still going to school, teachers are getting paid, and schools are operating as normal. It confirms what the President has said: the federal Department of Education is unnecessary, and we should return education to the states.
The Department has taken additional steps to better reach American students and families and root out the education bureaucracy that has burdened states and educators with unnecessary oversight.
No education funding is impacted by the RIF, including funding for special education, and the clean CR supported by the Trump Administration will provide states and schools the funding they need to support all students.
The Democrat government shutdown has forced agencies to evaluate what federal responsibilities are truly critical for the American people. Two weeks in, millions of American students are still going to school, teachers are getting paid, and schools are operating as normal. It…
— Secretary Linda McMahon (@EDSecMcMahon) October 15, 2025
Education should be a state-level responsibility.
In fact, education should be as local as possible. The needs in Oklahoma City are different from those in the panhandle.
Each community is different.
Plus, a longer shutdown might affect schools. You know how it wouldn’t affect schools?
If schools would rely on their states and communities instead of the federal government.
McMahon and President Donald Trump want to eliminate the Department of Education, but that action requires congressional approval.
Instead, McMahon and Trump have made moves to shrink the department with massive layoffs
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Comments
She is correct – though DIE can occur at local and state levels, too.
There’s no reason for the rest of us to have to pay for blue states’ abuses.
A lot of federal agencies and their bloated salary/benefit workers seem to be unneeded.
Don’t need a Department of Education nor do we need any Directorate, Commission, Department, Administration, Service, or Bureau that is currently shutdown with no apparent negative consequences.
So shut it down! Shut it down, forever!
And good riddance to the rubbish that wasn’t ever really needed.
EoT
If only we could persuade a Hawaiian federal district court judge to let us shut it down…
Were I President I would ask Congress to review every single bureau, commission. administration, department, service, etc to see which are consistent with constitutional provisions.
Then, come up with ways to shut them down in an orderly fashion.
Such an orderly fashion might be:
1) “Stop what you are doing. Hands off keyboards and mice. Collect your belongings and be out of the building within 30 minutes.
2) Have IT log down every computer remotely.
3) Bring in whatever has replaced the General Services Administration to conduct inventories of all furniture, computer gear, supplies.
4) List it all as surplus and put it up for sale.
5) Offer the now-empty buildings to the private sector as office and warehouse space.
The kicker is that most federal agencies do perform at least some kind of useful function. That function may be better done elsewhere, or done via the private sector, but as of right now the gov’t is doing the work. As much fun as it is to just yell “switch it all off!” that does not work in a lot of cases. A byproduct of the gov’t assuming responsibilities, I suppose.
So in addition to your list, I would add a couple points:
– Determine which functions can be migrated to another agency if they must be performed by the gov’t.
– Create a plan to migrate functions to a private entity with a defined timeline and implementation path, if appropriate.
Relocate the Dept of Education to Warehouses in Alaska .