Trump moves closer to closing the Education Department
Consider This from NPR
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4.1 • 5.3K Ratings
🗓️ 21 November 2025
⏱️ 10 minutes
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Summary
NPR's Juana Summers speaks with former Obama education secretary John King about what this could mean for public education in America and some of the most vulnerable students.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | When President Trump nominated Linda McMahon as Secretary of Education for a second term in office, |
| 0:06.4 | this was his main directive to her. |
| 0:08.4 | I want Linda to put herself out of a job. |
| 0:10.8 | Put herself out of a job. |
| 0:12.7 | In essence, dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. |
| 0:15.9 | And it seemed that she was ready to do that. |
| 0:18.1 | Here's McMahon on Fox News in March. |
| 0:20.2 | Do we need this department? |
| 0:22.0 | No. We don't. |
| 0:23.8 | And while such an action would need congressional approval, the Trump administration this week |
| 0:28.3 | unveiled a plan to sidestep that all together by breaking off and redistributing the |
| 0:33.1 | education department's various roles and duties to departments like labor and state. |
| 0:38.8 | The plan was described this week in a press conference led by Lindsey Burke, the deputy chief of staff for policy and programs |
| 0:44.0 | at the Education Department. She also happens to be author of Chapter 11 of Project 2025, which |
| 0:50.2 | outlined a plan to dismantle her current workplace in exactly this way. |
| 0:55.2 | Consider this. |
| 0:56.5 | Burke and McMahon say this plan is about giving power back to the states and parents, |
| 1:01.2 | but what will it mean for students in America's public education system? |
| 1:07.6 | From NPR, I'm Juana Summers. |
| 1:12.3 | This message comes from the Financial Times. |
| 1:15.5 | Lead poisoning is a hidden epidemic in the UK. |
| 1:18.5 | On the Untold podcast, hear from people who have been affected. |
... |
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