Rep. Courtney: Abolishing the Education Department is Wildly Unpopular and Dangerous
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Joe Courtney, a senior member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, called out President Trump’s and Elon Musk’s unpopular and dangerous plan to abolish the Education Department. Watch the clip here.
In 2023, House Republicans tried to abolish the Education Department – but 60 “sensible” Republicans joined the entire House Democratic caucus in shooting down the effort, Courtney said at this morning’s committee hearing pointing to the proposal’s unpopularity.
On Republican efforts to eliminate the Department: “Since the enactment of the Department of Education, there have been consistent attempts by far right-wing Republicans in Congress [to eliminate the Department]. The last one as recently as March 24, 2023. Mr. Massie offered an amendment to H.R. 5 to abolish the Department of Education. That measure was defeated 265 to 161, 60 Republicans voted, in my opinion, sensibly to make sure that the Department of Education stayed in place. I think it is important for us to remember a reality check that the Department of Education’s existence actually resides in this branch of government.”
On the importance of the Department to students and schools in Connecticut: “Among the programs that the Department of Education funds is the Perkins Grant program. In my district, visiting career and technical trade schools, talking to comprehensive high schools that are now creating career pathway programs with money coming from the US Department of Education to pay for welding booths and setups for nursing programs. The fact of the matter is that the Department of Education is a major, major partner and contributor to, again, achieving our goals.”
President Trump made clear time and time again that he intends to eliminate the Education Department and reports show that the White House is preparing Executive Orders to do so. No U.S. president can unilaterally abolish a federal agency without the approval of Congress.
The Education Department is responsible for delivering federal funding to our nation’s schools with the highest need under the Title I program, which includes nearly every K-12 public school in CT-02. The Department also administers funding to support the education of K-12 students with special needs and powers the federal aid that allows students to access higher education.
The Department’s work can be directly felt in Connecticut’s Second District. Thanks to federal funding from the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, which is administered by the Department, Westbrook High School launched a new welding lab in October 2024, and Tourtellotte Memorial High School did the same in September 2024 which expanded the program from serving eight students to 50.