Adam Kissel
July 28, 2026
Dismantling the U.S. Department of Education is one of the Trump administration’s best and boldest policies. With just a small percentage of staff coming to the office anymore, the agency is downsizing to a nearby building. Some senators are trying to stop much of this welcome reform, however, with a bill to cease implementation of any interagency agreement in K–12 and higher education, special education, and Indian Education.
As a former deputy assistant secretary in one of these areas, I can say with confidence that interfering with these agreements is bad policy.
Should any education programs operate at the federal level? No. They all should return to the states. But so long as they exist, they should run efficiently, and they’ll do that better in their new agencies. Here’s why.
First, the interagency agreements enable the government to integrate education policy with other areas such as labor policy and health policy. Staff expertise from the Department of Education, for instance, is now on site at the Department of Labor and other agencies to better serve America’s students.