The House Education and the Workforce Committee’s first hearing of the year saw Democrats take on the “elephant in the room” as President Trump and Republicans seek to move toward abolishing the Education Department, though GOP lawmakers largely declined to address the issue. 

“The State of American Education” hearing Wednesday hit on a number of targets including school choice, the student loan system and falling student test scores, but the news of Trump looking at executive actions to weaken, with the hope to eventually abolish, the Department of Education stayed front and center.  

“I’d like to first start with the elephant in the room, and there is current reporting that President Trump plans to issue an executive order to eliminate critical programs at the Department of Education and calling on Congress to eliminate the entire department. But then I recall that that’s exactly what the Project 2025 said the president should do,” ranking member Bobby Scott (D-Va.) said.  

“The irony is not lost on me that we’re here to discuss the state of American education while current administration is actively discussing how to dismantle the main federal agency responsible for ensuring safe quality education for all students,” he added. 

The Wall Street Journal on Monday was the first to report Trump is looking at executive actions to move programs from the Department of Education to other federal agencies, cutting the number of employees and calling on Congress to pass legislation eliminating the department completely.  

Bills have been introduced multiple times to do just that, but the measures have so far failed to gain significant momentum.

Reports indicate Trump is facing pressure not to make any big moves against the agency until after his Education secretary pick, Linda McMahon, goes through her confirmation hearing.  

“I told Linda, ‘Linda, I hope you do a great job and put yourself out of a job,’” Trump said at the White House Tuesday, adding he would like to end the department through executive order. 

Most Democrats at the hearing aggressively went after the news, denouncing the potential moves by Republicans at a time where schools are facing issues including behavioral problems and falling test scores.  

Only a small number of Republicans mentioned the plans to eliminate or weaken the department, as many are doubtful there would be enough support even on the right to pass legislation to abolish the agency.  

“I very much support President Donald Trump for his courage to promote local elected school boards with the elimination of the duplicative, wasteful interfering in federal Department of Education, and the funding, clearly, should go to the students and not to bureaucrats,” Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) said. 

While both sides bemoaned the recent dismal student scores in the Nation’s Report Card and troubles with the student loan system and the cost of college, there was little ground for agreement elsewhere, with the president’s actions drawing particular focus.

Trump recently signed executive orders with the goal of bolstering school choice programs in states and banning critical race theory and “gender ideology” from schools.  

“We got to turn education in this country around, and it’s going to take some bold, strong efforts to do that,” Rep. Rick Allen (R-Ga.) said. 

“Obviously, in this indoctrination of children is ridiculous,” Allen added. “Parents and children should have the chance to choose an education path that is right for them. That’s why I’m so excited to hear the return administration speaking so forcibly in favor of school choice.”

Teachers unions and other opponents of school choice have argued the programs take away money from public education and disadvantage minority and rural students. School choice measures have largely failed at the ballot box, even in red states.

Democrats during the hearing decried what they describe as attacks on public education, arguing Republicans are taking rare instances in public schools to claim “indoctrination” in classrooms.  

“What we’ve heard a lot today is a lot of anecdotal conspiracy rhetoric about what is happening in schools. As a product of the public school system, and a proud parent of children who have attended public schools, I’ve seen nothing of the sort,” said Janai Nelson, a Democratic witness and president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. 

The committee’s new chair, Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) ended the hearing highlighting the areas where Republicans and Democrats are in agreement and the laundry list of work the committee has before it.  

“I think we also ought to be able to agree that we have problems, and those problems are opportunities, and at this point in time, I think we can agree that we’re not achieving the excellence that we want to achieve,” Walberg said.