Trump updates: President signs order to ‘eliminate’ Education Department

Thank you for joining Al Jazeera for coverage of day 60 of Donald Trump’s second term as United States president.

To learn more about Badar Khan Suri, the post-doctoral scholar threatened with deportation under Trump, check out our coverage here.

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• US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to begin dismantling the Department of Education and reassigning its functions to states.
• But critics point out that Trump himself cannot fully shut down the department without Congress’s support – an unlikely prospect, given the need for 60 votes in the 100-seat Senate.
• Judge James Boasberg has called the Trump administration’s responses “woefully insufficient”, as he weighs whether the government defied an order to halt deportations under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
• Trump, however, called on the Supreme Court to block injunctions like Boasberg’s.
• The US president also withdrew an executive order against a law firm, in exchange for “$40 million in pro bono legal services over the course of President Trump’s term”.
• Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been dealt a setback, as a judge issued a preliminary injunction preventing it from accessing data from the Social Security Administration.
• Outrage is mounting after the Department of Homeland Security detained an Indian researcher at Georgetown University, Badar Khan Suri, for expressing pro-Palestinian views. A judge has thus far blocked his deportation.

In a series of posts on social media, Trump has called on the Supreme Court to curtail judicial authority, teeing up a battle between the branches of government.

“Unlawful Nationwide Injunctions by Radical Left Judges could very well lead to the destruction of our Country!” Trump wrote in an initial post.

He went on to criticise Judge James Boasberg, who issued an injunction against deportations made under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a wartime law that allows the president to detain and deport foreign nationals.

That act has only been invoked three times prior in US history — the last time being during World War II, for the forced incarceration of Japanese Americans, an act for which the government later apologised.

Boasberg on Saturday called for the Trump administration to halt its deportation flights authorised under the law, but critics say the Trump team proceeded with them anyway.

“Judge James Boasberg is doing everything in his power to usurp the Power of the Presidency,” Trump said. “He is a local, unknown Judge, a Grandstander, looking for publicity, and it cannot be for any other reason, because his ‘Rulings’ are so ridiculous, and inept.”

The president argued he alone has the authority to decide what happens to the deported individuals and called on the Supreme Court to intervene on his behalf.

“STOP NATIONWIDE INJUNCTIONS NOW, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE. If Justice Roberts and the United States Supreme Court do not fix this toxic and unprecedented situation IMMEDIATELY, our Country is in very serious trouble!”

Trump’s executive order is relatively short – and it acknowledges he is limited in his ability to dismantle the Department of Education.

The executive order was issued under the name “Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities”, reflecting Trump’s commitment to so-called parental rights in education.

That movement reflects a push to allow parents to use taxpayer money to send their children to private or charter schools, as well as exercise control over school curriculum.

“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,” the order says.

It also calls for any programme receiving federal education funds to “terminate” any activity to promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), calling that a form of “illegal discrimination”.

Trump has reversed course, withdrawing an executive order stripping security clearances from the New York law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison.

The US president has sought to remove such clearances from law offices that represent policies or people he disagrees with.

The New York firm, for example, had high-profile Democrats as clients and employed Mark Pomerantz as a former partner. Pomerantz went on to serve as a special assistant district attorney investigating Trump’s finances in 2021.

Trump has just signed an executive order to try and dismantle the Department of Education.

The problem is he cannot do it alone. Only Congress can dissolve the department.

Within minutes of the order’s signing, Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana announced he was preparing legislation to follow through with the president’s order.

“I agree with President Trump that the Department of Education has failed its mission,” Cassidy wrote in a statement. “Since the Department can only be shut down with congressional approval, I will support the President’s goals by submitting legislation to accomplish this as soon as possible.”

Chuck Schumer, the leading Democrat in the Senate, has posted on social media his vehement opposition to Trump’s attempt to shutter the Department of Education.

“Attempting to dismantle the Department of Education is one of the most destructive and devastating steps Donald Trump has ever taken. This. Will. Hurt. Kids,” Schumer, a senator from New York, wrote.

“This horrible decision by Donald Trump will be felt by teachers, parents, school leaders, and in the quality of education our children receive.”

Schumer also explained that by transferring the department’s functions to the states, residents will see their state taxes increase accordingly.

He also reiterated that only Congress can eliminate federal departments, not presidents.

“The courts must act to uphold the rule of law and stop Donald Trump’s tyrannical power grab,” Schumer said.