Trump's Education Secretary May Be Asked To Dismantle The Education Department. Here's What It Does

If Linda McMahon is confirmed as education secretary, President Donald Trump has said he wants her to "put herself out of a job."

A plan being considered by the White House would direct the education secretary to dismantle the department as much as legally possible while asking Congress to abolish it completely . At her confirmation hearing Thursday, McMahon indicated she would seek "a better functioning Department of Education," with more efficient programs that might be better implemented by different federal agencies.

Eliminating the department altogether would be a cumbersome task McMahon said she believed that would require action from Congress. Already, the department has cut 900 million in contracts for its office that tracks progress of students in schools across America.

The agency's main role is financial. Annually, it distributes billions in federal money to colleges and schools and manages the federal student loan portfolio. Closing the department would mean redistributing each of those duties to another agency. The Education Department also plays an important regulatory role in services for students, ranging from those with disabilities to low-income and homeless kids.

Indeed, federal education money is central to Trump's plans for colleges and schools. Trump has vowed to cut off federal money for schools and colleges that push "critical race theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content" and to reward states and schools that end teacher tenure and support universal school choice programs .