The Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education building, pictured on November 25, 2024. (Photo by Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Education plans to move the $15 billion Individuals with Disabilities Education Act program outside the agency, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
In a statement to States Newsroom, department spokeswoman Madi Biedermann did not specifically confirm the report, but said the department generally looks for opportunities to shift its activities to other agencies. President Donald Trump has promised to abolish the Department of Education.
The agency “is exploring additional partnerships with federal agencies to support special education programs without disruption or impact on students with disabilities, but no agreement has been signed,” Biedermann wrote.
Biedermann said Education Secretary Linda McMahon has “made it very clear that her goal is to put herself out of work by closing the Department of Education and returning education to the states” and that McMahon is “fully committed to protecting the federal funding streams that support our nation’s students with disabilities.”
The Trump administration has decided to lay off 465 department employees, including 121 at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Servicesearlier this month amid the ongoing government shutdown.
A federal judge has temporarily blocked by the administration stopped from carrying out the dismissals, but the ruling only provides short-term relief during the legal process.
Among the department’s many missions is ensuring free public education for students with disabilities through IDEA.
Trump has already proposed bringing special education services under the Department of Health and Human Services.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on social media in March that the agency was “fully ready” to take on that responsibility.
Fully transferring responsibility for IDEA would require an act of Congress — a significant undertaking given that at least 60 votes are needed to break a filibuster in the Senate and Republicans hold only 53 seats.
