> White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday morning that the department would not be completely eliminated, saying its “critical functions” would continue, including the enforcement of civil rights laws and oversight of student loans and Pell grants.
Okay, so by dismantling the Department of Education, they actually mean shrinking its budget by less than a third?
Why not specify this kind of stuff in the executive order itself? This administration can complain all it wants about how unfairly the media treats it, but they are the ones choosing the write this crap and leave out every detail.
The media should also avoid falling for these basic confidence traps. The administration make a hyperbolic statement. The media prints it honestly in the headline. The administration walks it back and claims the media is exaggerating. Rinse and repeat
It seems like it would be more logical to treat the walkback as a lie until proven otherwise. Executive orders have legal force, unlike statements by press secretaries and political surrogates guesting on news shows.
> The Department of Education currently manages a student loan debt portfolio of more than $1.6 trillion. This means the Federal student aid program is roughly the size of one of the Nation’s largest banks, Wells Fargo. But although Wells Fargo has more than 200,000 employees, the Department of Education has fewer than 1,500 in its Office of Federal Student Aid. The Department of Education is not a bank, and it must return bank functions to an entity equipped to serve America’s students.
Sounds like very efficiently run agency!
The "meat" of the order is this:
> Sec. 2. Closing the Department of Education and Returning Authority to the States. (a) The Secretary of Education shall, 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 while ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.
(b) Consistent with the Department of Education’s authorities, the Secretary of Education shall ensure that the allocation of any Federal Department of Education funds is subject to rigorous compliance with Federal law and Administration policy, including the requirement that any program or activity receiving Federal assistance terminate illegal discrimination obscured under the label “diversity, equity, and inclusion” or similar terms and programs promoting gender ideology.
It's really hard for me to say what this even mean in real terms.
Okay, so by dismantling the Department of Education, they actually mean shrinking its budget by less than a third?
Why not specify this kind of stuff in the executive order itself? This administration can complain all it wants about how unfairly the media treats it, but they are the ones choosing the write this crap and leave out every detail.
The media should also avoid falling for these basic confidence traps. The administration make a hyperbolic statement. The media prints it honestly in the headline. The administration walks it back and claims the media is exaggerating. Rinse and repeat