Derrick Johnson, the president and CEO of the NAACP, said he believes President Trump is “deliberately dismantling the basic functions” of U.S. democracy.
In a post on X, Johnson slammed Trump for his plans to shut down the Department of Education.
“@POTUS is not only seeking to shut down the Department of Education — he is deliberately dismantling the basic functions of our democracy, one piece at a time,” Johnson said. “That decision will only hurt children across America who depend on federal funding for a quality education.”
Trump’s executive order looking to disband the Education Department was first announced weeks ago, but its implementation was delayed without much explanation. The president is expected to sign the order Thursday in the East Room of the White House.
It comes just after the agency fired about half of its workforce and Education Secretary Linda McMahon told employees to prepare for their “final mission.”
Trump doesn’t have the power to abolish a department entirely and his plan would be impossible without Congressional action, but Trump can significantly weaken it or shrink the workforce, something Johnson noted in his post.
“Let’s be clear: only Congress can establish or abolish an executive agency. This new executive order is unconstitutional, but to Donald Trump, the rule of law doesn’t seem to matter,” he said.
The move to shutter the department was also criticized by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), the ranking member on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Scott said that Trump’s plan has many legal ramifications, but most importantly, it would put students across the country at risk.
He said dismantling the department would “exacerbate existing disparities, reduce accountability, and put low-income students, students of color, students with disabilities, rural students and English as a Second Language (ESL) students at risk.”
