U.S. Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY), one of the two House Republicans to vote against President Trump’s “big beautiful bill” last month, is now prodding House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to shut down the U.S. Department of Education.
On X, Massie wrote: “34 Reps have cosponsored my bill to terminate the federal Department of Education, which would save money and return control back to parents, teachers, school boards, and states. Pres. Trump supports this policy. What are we waiting for @SpeakerJohnson?”
Note: Massie’s bill, which was introduced on January 31, 2025, is co-sponsored by MAGA members of Congress including Reps. Andy Biggs (AZ), Lauren Boebert (CO), Tim Burchett (TN), Andrew Clyde (GA), Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA), Chip Roy (TX), and Warren Davidson (OH), who was the other Republican to vote with Massie against Trump’s bill. (Including provisions to potentially increase the debt ceiling by $4 trillion, the “big, beautiful” bill is now in the hands of the Senate.)
34 Reps have cosponsored my bill to terminate the federal Department of Education, which would save money and return control back to parents, teachers, school boards, and states. Pres. Trump supports this policy. What are we waiting for @SpeakerJohnson ?https://t.co/5SNWtbX6ar
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) June 3, 2025
Note: On March 26, Massie’s bill was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
MAGA supporters on X including Scott Vann replied: “I haven’t read the bill but I’m a big hell yes on getting this on the floor TODAY! Every day they should be voting on cuts!” And another chimed in: “Whether it passes or not – call the vote already! Time to start putting people on record on EVERYTHING.”
Department of Education advocates like Peter Cunningham, the Assistant Secretary for Communications and Outreach in the U.S. Department of Education from 2009-2012, contends that the department delivers major value for the taxpayer dollars it spends.
Writing in Education Week, Cunningham says that while the states provide 90% of education funds, the federal piece delivers “extra money for low-income students, students with disabilities, rural students, students learning English, and people attending college. The feds also investigate civil rights violations—a response to the long and troubled legacy of ‘local control,’ like segregation. Through other federal agencies, Washington also pays for preschool for low-income kids and lunch for the 30 million kids who might show up to school hungry.”
As the Education Department under Secretary of Education Linda McMahon cedes power and essentially dismantles itself, even without a congressional bill that officially eliminates it, Cunningham writes that America loses a situation where “federal law still mandates some kind of testing so we can track progress in core subjects like reading and math, but, at this point, there are no real consequences for falling short” and laments that now “we can look forward to knowing even less about the state of learning in America.”
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