EXCLUSIVE — A new House Republican bill aims to move forward with President Donald Trump‘s plan to dismantle the Department of Education by shifting responsibilities to other agencies.
Rep. Mark Harris (R-NC), a freshman member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, is introducing the “Less Bureaucracy, Better K-12 Education” and “Less Bureaucracy, Better Higher Education” acts on Thursday, the Washington Examiner has learned.
The bill package would transfer functions of the DOE’s K-12 and higher education programs to the Department of Labor, and “codify” Trump’s plan to “right-size” the DOE.
The two bills are part of a larger 10-bill legislative effort led by the House education committee that is intended to “reduce federal education bureaucracy, ensure responsibilities are carried out by agencies better positioned to administer them, and keep the focus where it belongs: on students, families, and taxpayers.”
The DOE’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education oversees funding for low-income school districts and rural schools and aims to improve academic achievement in K-12 education. The department’s Office of Postsecondary Education oversees federal programs related to colleges and universities, including grants.
Under the bills introduced by Harris, the DOE would transfer the responsibilities of the OESE and OPE to the Labor Department without changing the programs themselves. It also transfers staff, funding, and other resources needed to continue operating those programs during the transition.
Harris said the proposed shift is intended to help students succeed by removing hurdles put in place by the federal government.
“With educators in my own family, I know the heart they have for helping students reach their full potential,” Harris said. “The federal government should support that work, not get in the way with unnecessary bureaucracy. I am proud to introduce these two bills to ensure K-12 and higher education programs are administered by an agency better positioned to serve students and families.”
House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) echoed Harris’s sentiments.
“The legislative package reflects a simple principle: education policy should be focused on helping students succeed — not preserving a federal bureaucracy for its own sake,” Walberg said. “Rather than allowing unnecessary layers of Washington bureaucracy to stand between families and the services they rely on, the bills would transfer key statutory authorities to agencies better equipped to carry them out while maintaining continuity for students.”
The Trump administration has already shifted DOE responsibilities to other agencies, as special education services and civil rights responsibilities were transferred to the departments of Health and Human Services and Justice, respectively, last month. Education Secretary Linda McMahon framed the shift as scaling back “federal micromanagement when it hinders success.”
The overhaul of the DOE stems from an executive order signed by Trump last March that aims to abolish the department and return education control to the states.
McMahon also sought to lay off around 1,400 of the department’s 4,200 employees last March, though the move received legal pushback.
Last month’s shifts were done through interagency agreements, which essentially act as a memorandum of understanding between the federal agencies.
TRUMP ORDERS EDUCATION DEPARTMENT TO SHIFT KEY RESPONSIBILITIES OUT OF AGENCY
Under McMahon’s leadership, 14 IAAs have been signed, shifting responsibilities from the DOE to other departments. Such agreements were brokered between McMahon and the other department heads and do not require an act of Congress. However, in making the shift in that way, it leaves the door open for other administrations to cancel them.
Harris’s bill also proposes an IAA through legislation, which in turn codifies the agreement, keeping it safe from future administrations stripping it.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Department of Education for comment.