Linda McMahon defends disbanding the Department of Education on national tour [View all]

Source: CBS News

August 11, 2025 / 5:20 PM EDT


Education Secretary Linda McMahon is kicking off a nationwide tour focused on promoting the administration's goal of dismantling the Department of Education, which has been met with congressional and legal challenges. The "Returning Education to the States Tour" is set to take McMahon on a tour of all 50 states, starting in Louisiana, where she met with leadership and educators to discuss strategies for improving education. She told "CBS Mornings Plus" that this approach is meant to focus on highlighting resources states can provide to students, in lieu of those traditionally provided by the Department of Education.

"I think as we make this tour and as I see what best practices are and we provide these toolkits, we develop them and then can deliver them to the states and say these are things that you can choose from. These are things that have been successful in other states. It's not a mandate," McMahon said. "I think every school system needs to work within its own community to decide what curriculum works best there. What are the ways that their students can learn? And that's why it's imperative that education be returned to the states because when states are creative and innovative, you will see the kind of progress that you've seen here in Louisiana."

President Trump issued an executive order to begin dismantling the department in March, arguing that education policy and funding should be left to the states. McMahon announced cuts of roughly half its workforce the same month. The downsizing has led to legal challenges, but the Supreme Court allowed the cuts to continue in July.

In 2024, the department accounted for less than 4% of the federal budget. Its responsibilities include overseeing federal student loan programs, distributing grants for low-income schools and enforcing non-discrimination policies in schools. It does not set curriculum. Completely abolishing the department would require congressional approval, an unlikely proposition given Democrats' general opposition to eliminating it altogether.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/linda-mcmahon-department-of-education-national-tour/