President Donald Trump's plan to dismantle the Department of Education just suffered a big blow in the Senate.
"In a 13-9 vote, the Senate HELP Committee advanced S. 5046, a bipartisan bill ... that would prohibit the Education Department from transferring special education and several other major education offices to other federal agencies," reported Politico on Thursday afternoon.
The bill was sponsored by Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Tim Kaine (D-VA). In a statement, Collins said, “This bill is straightforward. It keeps the administration of important landmark education programs at the Department of Education, where Congress specifically put them and where they belong.”
The Department of Education primarily exists to ensure Americans have an equal right to education, and serves a number of important civil rights functions. Far-right activists have wanted to dismantle it ever since its creation in 1979.
Since Trump took office, Secretary Linda McMahon has done everything in her power to offload key responsibilities of the Education Department to other agencies, including its critically important civil rights division.
The press secretary for the department blasted the Senate legislation, saying, “Secretary McMahon promised Congress a proof of concept that is currently underway and delivering results across our partner agencies, and it is entirely premature to sabotage this effort before it has the chance to eliminate bureaucratic barriers and fully deliver the results that our students, families, and educators deserve.”
