When people talk about the “deep state,” they often mean very different things. But one common definition of the phrase is what the British would call the “civil service.” That is, the thousands of people who staff the various national government agencies and “keep things ticking over.”
They also tend to think that whatever federal government agencies exist today have always existed, or that they must continue existing forever, as if they were bedrocks of society without which everything would fall apart.
Not everyone agrees, and Republicans are really warming to the idea of abolishing the federal Department of Education. GOP Rep. Thomas Massie has been aiming at that goal for a while, and the Kentucky Republican introduced a bill at the end of 2023 that would tank the DOE. On his side are 30 Republican co-sponsors, including firebrand Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylore Greene and Florida’s Byron Donalds.
Now, former President Donald Trump has thrown his weight behind the idea. During his historic two-hour-long conversation with billionaire inventor Elon Musk, Trump said he wanted to send decisions about education back to the states. The conversation took place on X (formerly Twitter), owned by Musk, and has an astounding 1 billion views/listens at the time of this writing.
Massie thinks the DOE can be taken down if Trump wins the presidency and if Republicans regain control of Congress this fall. But that’s a lot of “ifs.”
The Department of Education has only been around for a few generations. Democrat President Jimmy Carter created it in 1979, and agencies that can be created can be un-created. Why do conservatives want to get rid of it? They believe the federal government has too much control over what is taught in classrooms around the country, and that states are better positioned to oversee children’s education.
Given that the DOE doles out “federal funds” (these are actually your dollars as a taxpayer) to schools, it can set the rules for getting that money. And the DOE is responsible for rewriting rules on Title IX, “updating” the sex discrimination rules to now allow boys to compete in girls’ sports—and enter girls’ lockerrooms and bathrooms—because the agency believes in “gender identity.” This is the idea that a person can be male or female regardless of what body parts they have. In plain terms, the DOE has erased the distinction between boys and girls.
Trump is giving Democrats fits about the issue. In his conversation with Musk, Trump promised that one of the first things he wants to do if he wins office is to “close up the Department of Education.” He wants Musk’s help in forming a government committee to look at waste and inefficiency at the federal level, too.
