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Why Republicans Failed to Abolish the Department of Education

Why Republicans Failed to Abolish the Department of Education

“That department should be abolished,” President Ronald Reagan said of the Education Department in 1983, repeating a campaign promise. In 1995, while running for president, Lamar Alexander, former Secretary of Education under President George H. W. Bush, promised to eliminate the department he once led. In 2022, Betsy DeVos, while serving as Secretary of Education under President Donald Trump, said she believed her department “should not exist.” In September, Trump himself chimed in: “I can’t wait to get back to do it. Ultimately, we will eliminate the federal Department of Education.” Republicans have been threatening to repeal it for decades. So what takes them so long?