'An Illegal, Unconstitutional Abuse Of Powers': Bonamici Slams Trump EO Closing Dept. Of Education

3 days ago

During remarks on the House floor, Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) tore into President Trump over his executive order to close the Department of Education.

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Transcript

00:00Thank you Mr. Speaker, I rise today to condemn in the strongest terms possible President Trump's

00:06executive order that threatens millions of students and local public schools through the

00:11dismantling of the Department of Education. This is an illegal and unconstitutional abuse of power

00:18straight out of the Project 2025 playbook. Congress created the department, only Congress can

00:24dismantle it, something I will fight every step of the way. I want to note that Donald Trump and

00:29Elon Musk have likely never set foot in a public school and they certainly do not understand what

00:35the Department of Education actually does and why it's important. But students and families and

00:40teachers in Oregon and across the country understand. In the past few weeks several

00:45Oregon parents have told me they are terrified that their kids will lose access to vital

00:49educational services. One mom said she worries about sending her two kids with special needs

00:54to kindergarten next year if there are cuts to IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Act.

01:01Unlike Secretary McMahon, I actually know what IDEA stands for and what it means for students.

01:07I've been an education advocate for decades and no one has ever said we need less money

01:12to meet the needs of students with disabilities. It's always a plea, fully fund IDEA. Another mom

01:19told me that her kids attend a Title I school and they get enough to eat because of school

01:23breakfast and lunch programs. It's a fact. High poverty schools, about half the schools in the U.S.,

01:30have greater educational needs and that's why Title I dollars provide flexibility

01:35so districts can determine how to best meet the needs of their low-income students.

01:40Cutting that funding will widen rather than close the achievement gap. Nonsensically, Trump and Musk

01:46are rejoicing at the idea of returning power to states and local communities. Return what? States

01:52and local districts already have power over core functions of education, including curriculum,

01:58staffing, budgeting. In fact, it's against the law for the federal government to set curriculum.

02:03Donald Trump also makes a bogus argument that declining test scores justify abolishing the

02:08department, but test scores don't make the case for slashing federal investment in education.

02:13On the contrary, they show us where we need to direct resources and support to students,

02:18especially low-income students and students with disabilities. And unfortunately, we're losing an

02:24important research tool about what students do need because the Trump administration has taken

02:29a chainsaw to the National Center for Education Statistics. But we do know that more than 51,000

02:35public schools serve concentrated populations of students from low-income families and receive

02:41Title I funds. And almost seven and a half million students with disabilities receive a free,

02:46appropriate public education because of IDEA. I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the

02:51aisle to speak with your local and state legislators and ask them if they have extra

02:55resources to fill these gaps. Also, the majority of federal funding through the Department of

03:00Education is to open doors of opportunity to higher education for students who choose to

03:06attend college but can't afford the cost. This includes Pell Grants, federal work-study, and low

03:12interest loans to those who qualify. I would not be where I am today without the federal aid I got

03:18to attend first community college, then college, then law school. And importantly, the Department of

03:23Education is a civil rights agency. The Office for Civil Rights enforces federal laws prohibiting

03:29discrimination and harassment, investigating thousands of civil rights cases every year,

03:34primarily from students with disabilities. This work will be more difficult, if not impossible,

03:40with the Trump administration firing at least 240 employees in the Office of Civil Rights and

03:45closing more than half of its regional offices. Now, also, Donald Trump, he says he wants to

03:51shut down the department but keep its core functions, get rid of the people with expertise

03:56and give the core functions to other agencies without the expertise or the staff to handle them.

04:01That's not government efficiency. It's absurdity. Last month, I introduced House Resolution 94 in

04:08defense of public schools and the Department of Education, and more than 85 of my colleagues

04:13have signed on. We will fight all efforts to defund and dismantle the important work the

04:18department does, and we won't back down. The consequences are clear. Closing the Department

04:24of Education will harm students, families, communities, and the economy. The majority of

04:29Americans support the Department of Education, and I know public school advocates will be working

04:35tirelessly to maintain the strong and vital federal investment in our system of public education.

04:42Donald Trump and Elon Musk might think this is an ill-conceived, that this ill-conceived abuse

04:47of power will go unchecked. They are about to find out how wrong they are. Thank you.

04:52I yield back the balance of my time.

'An Illegal, Unconstitutional Abuse Of Powers': Bonamici Slams Trump EO Closing Dept. Of Education

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