Republicans are taking the central step to abolish the Department of Education, Imperiling Student Loan Programs

Republican lawmakers took a central step last week to officially abolish the US education department and reintroduce a bill that would eliminate the federal agency. The bill is just the latest steps that Republicans in Washington have taken to try to run the department. Meanwhile, the Trump administration seems ready to further disrupt the department’s staff and operations by further placing some employees on leave.

It may not be easy for the department that oversees the country’s education system and manages a federal student loan program exceeding $ 1 trillion to be fully settled. But major staff changes, financing and the potential shutdown of programs and projects can still have significant effects on millions of Americans, including many student loans, although the department itself survives. Here’s the latest.

Republicans reintroduce Bill to abolish the Institute of Education

On Friday, Republican legislators reintroduced a bill to formally dismantle the Department of Education. The Bill, HR 899, contains only a single judgment: “The Institute of Education must be completed on December 31, 2026.”

“Uviled bureaucrats in Washington, DC should not be responsible for our children’s intellectuals and moral development,” Rep said. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), One of the Bill’s leading sponsors, in a declaration. “States and communities are best placed to shape curricula that meet their students’ needs. Schools must be responsible. Parents have the right to choose the most appropriate educational option for their children, including home school, public school or private school.”

“The federal educational department has never trained a single student, and it is long time to end this bureaucratic department that causes more harm than good,” said Senator Mike Rounds (Rs.d.), who introduced similar legislation in the Senate last November . “We all know that local control is best when it comes to education. Everyone raised in South Dakota can think of a teacher who played a major role in their educational journey. Local school boards and state educational departments best know what their students need, not -not -selected bureaucrats in Washington, DC ”

Removal of the Department of Education is a long -term conservative goal since its establishment under President Jimmy Carter in 1979. President Ronald Reagan pressed to get the department removed, but could not successfully do so through legislation in Congress. Since then, the department has grown to approx. 4,000 employees with departments handling everything from financing to children with disabilities and education in early childhood, to the payment of federal student assistance, including Pell Grants and work study programs, and administration of the department’s huge federal student loan portfolio, including federal forgiveness of student loans and repayment programs.

Trump -Administration is taking steps to disturb the Department of Education

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is taking steps to disturb the Department of Education. Last week dozens of the department’s staff stated on leave, allegedly for Newer reporting. Workers affected by forced leave include civil rights attorneys, program analysts, student loan regulators and workers involved in providing individualized educational programs for children with special needs, according to children, according to NBC News.

Journalists are suggests That more staff disorders for the Department of Education can come, possibly on much wider scale. The Trump administration recently effectively closed the headquarters of the US Agency for International Development, USAID. It could serve as a plan to turn off the education department.

Closing the Institute of Education can be difficult to achieve

A formal settlement of the Department of Education would require a congressional action. And while Republican lawmakers in parliament may try to pass HR 899, it is unlikely to succeed in the Senate, where Democrats are likely to use the Filibuster to block it. So far, there are no indications that Republicans would abolish the Filibuster to adopt this kind of legislation.

If the department is actually dismantled, it does not mean that the most important educational and student loan programs would be removed. Instead, these programs would probably be moved to other departments within the federal government. For example, some conservatives have suggested that the Office of Federal Student Aid, who manages the federal student loan and AID payout system (including federal forgiveness of student loans), must be moved to the Department of Treasury.

The legislation introduced by Rounds in November is more detailed than the house bill filed by Massie last week and leads specific programs contained in the Department of Education to various other parts of the federal government. The bill would specifically move the entire federal student loan to the Department of Treasury.

“This legislation is a roadmap to eliminate the federal education department by practically restoring these federal programs in the departments where they belong, which will be critical when we move into next year,” Rounds said in one declaration In November.

Financing and staff interruptions at the Department of Education can affect the forgiveness of student loans and repayment programs

Even without wholesale assembly of the Institute for Education, the Trump administration could still take significant steps to undermine and disturb it through additional staff cars. And Congress could stifle funding to the department, making it more difficult for officials to run and oversee key programs.

The combination of cuts of funding and staff would mean the loss of institutional knowledge and inability to what is left of the department to hire, train and maintain replacements. All of this can affect educational and student loan programs that lead to slower processing times, administrative errors and reduced supervision of federal contractors, such as student loan service companies.

“What happens if the Department of Education is shut down? The truth is that we do not have a direct answer to you, but we can speculate that student loans will not disappear if the department goes away and it would hurt borrowers even more than the current system, ”said the Student Debt Crisis Center in an E -Mail to borrowers in December. “Although complicated policies, bureaucracy and litigation make their jobs difficult, and your student loan situation confusing faith, the people working at the Department of Education are not responsible for student debt crisis.”

SDCC warned that eliminating the Institute for Education could cause federal forgiveness of student loans and repayment programs to be moved to “inexperienced agencies.” The resulting turmoil can lead to “more confusion and delays” and even a “collapse of how loans are managed, leading to even more chaos for borrowers.”