Trump expected to sign order gutting Department of Education, sources say

President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order to diminish the Department of Education at the White House on Thursday, multiple sources told ABC News.

The president’s order will direct Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take all necessary steps permitted by law to dissolve the Department of Education, according to the sources.

The move has been months in the making and will help the president fulfill his campaign promise of returning education power and decisions to the states.

The department took the first steps to downsizing and shutting down last week when it laid off nearly half its employees, and it shrunk significantly in size through a massive reduction in force, deferred resignations and retirement buyouts, according to the department.

Trump is also expected to continue the reforms — pledging to erase more staff from the agency and gut it.

“I expect it will [be shut down entirely],” Trump said on “Full Measure” with Sharyl Attkisson earlier this month. “You’ll have a few people left just to make sure [the states are] teaching English — you know, you say reading, writing and arithmetic.”

However, congressional approval is required to abolish a federal agency, and McMahon has acknowledged she would need Congress to carry out the president’s vision to close the department she’s been tapped to lead. It would take 60 “yes” votes in the Senate to overcome the filibuster and dismantle the agency that Congress created.

Critics argue the department is needed for vital financial assistance and grant programs. Education experts suggested that shuttering the Department of Education could gut public education funding and disproportionately affect high-need students across the country who rely on statutorily authorized programs, such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Title 1, which provides funding for low-income families.

McMahon said the agency will still administer those statutory programs that students from disadvantaged backgrounds rely on. In an interview on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle,” McMahon suggested the “good” employees who administer the statutorily mandated functions will not be harmed in staff reductions.

A statement from the department said it will “continue to deliver on all statutory programs that fall under the agency’s purview, including formula funding, student loans, Pell Grants, funding for special needs students, and competitive grantmaking.”

In its more than four decades, Trump and Department of Education skeptics believe the agency has had too much spending power without achievement results.

After McMahon was sworn in, she underscored that abolishing the agency is rooted in allowing families the right to choose a “quality education” so America’s students aren’t “stuck in failing schools.”