President Trump issued a call to close down the Department of Education "immediately," calling it a "big con job."

Trump has long promised to break up the federal agency, which is known for its low performance and Democratic politics.

"I'd like it to be closed immediately," Trump told reporters on Wednesday. "The Department of Education's a big con job."

Trump's plan for federal agency

As he has done before, Trump called to return education back to the States, pointing to the Department of Education's poor track record on academic performance. He noted a wide disparity between the cost of education per pupil and students' outcomes.

"We’re ranked — so they ranked the top forty countries in the world. We’re ranked number 40th, but we’re ranked number one in one department, costs per pupil. So, we spend more per pupil than any other country in the world, but we’re ranked number."

"I say send it back to Iowa, to Idaho, to Colorado," Trump added.

“We probably have 35, maybe 37 states that will do as well as Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden,” Trump added. “They’ll be just as good.”

Back to the states

Dismantling the Department has been a goal of conservatives since it was created by President Jimmy Carter. President Ronald Reagan promised to end the Department and return control of education to the states but later backed down.

In recent years, the Department has faced mounting criticism over low test scores and left-wing bias, which has turned many public classrooms into indoctrination centers for a radical agenda.

President Trump has quipped that his goal is to put his Education Secretary nominee, Linda McMahon, out of work. To do that, he is planning to sign an executive order urging Congress to repeal the agency - but given the low probability of Democrats crossing the aisle to make that happen, the administration is eyeing other ways to downsize unilaterally.

The Department's broad functions include distributing over $1 trillion in student loans and financial aid, enforcing civil rights law, and administering programs for students with disabilities.

Elon Musk's Department of Government Agency (DOGE) has begun making cuts to the Department, targeting roughly $100 million in DEI grants and another $900 million in contracts for educational research.

During her confirmation hearing Thursday, Linda McMahon said many of the agency's current functions should be handled by other departments. She affirmed her support of Trump's plan to reduce federal control over education policy.

“I believe, as he does, that the best education is closest to the child and not certainly in Washington, D.C.,” McMahon said.