Trump can't erase the Education Department with an executive order. Here's why. [View all]

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump would like to erase the Education Department, but he can’t do that with just a stroke of the pen.

Trump has repeatedly argued the department should be terminated, a long-held priority in Republican circles since Congress created it in 1979. The hitch is that presidents can't single-handedly abolish departments that lawmakers created by statute, according to experts. The same goes for many of its programs, such as Title I for children living in poverty and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

"We're going to move the Department of Education," Trump told reporters Wednesday at the White House. "We're going to move education into the states, so that the states − instead of bureaucrats working in Washington − can run education."

The statutes mean Congress must agree to eliminate the department completely or move its funding programs to another agency. Instead, the administration laid off or bought out nearly half the department on Tuesday. States challenged the firings in federal court and teachers unions vowed to fight “tooth and nail" by arguing the cuts could be ruinous.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-cant-erase-education-department-090930659.html