Trump signs executive order aimed at ‘eliminating’ Education Department ‘once and for all’: Live updates
President claimed giving control of education to states will halve costs and improve standards
Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “begin eliminating” the Department of Education in favor of leaving decision-making up to individual states. Some programs, such as special needs and student loans, will be preserved and eventually rehomed in other departments.
The policy, which was recommended in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 manifesto that Trump once distanced himself from, will reportedly see former wrestling boss McMahon instructed to undertake “all necessary steps to facilitate the closure… and return education authority to the states.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s administration has frozen $175 million in federal funding for the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) over opposition to a transgender swimmer’s participation in the institution’s training program.
It has also sparked a fresh diplomatic spat with France after it was accused of denying entry to the U.S. to a French research scientist after immigration officers searched his phone at an airport and found messages critical of the president.
Pentagon axes web pages about Holocaust to comply with Trump DEI order
The Defense Department has taken down or plans to delete thousands of websites to comply with the president’s order eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work from the federal government, which means removing pages dedicated to topics like remembering the Holocaust and the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Pentagon removes web pages about Holocaust remembrance to comply with Trump DEI order
Elon Musk donates to Republican members of Congress pushing to impeach judges
The tech billionaire has reportedly donated to seven Republican members of Congress, all of whom support the Trump administration’s calls to impeach or ignore federal judges who have halted parts of the president’s agenda.
Musk, who has claimed in recent days that such judges are leading a “judicial coup,” reportedly gave thousands of dollars in donations each to Representatives Eli Crane of Arizona, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Andy Ogles of Tennessee, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin and Brandon Gill of Texas, and Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa.
The reported recipients are among the loudest voices in Congress pushing to impeach or to otherwise constrain the judges.
Musk donates to GOP members of Congress pushing to impeach judge who oppose Trump
Judge rebukes DOGE for ‘terrorizing’ U.S. Institute of Peace
A federal judge has expressed alarm at allegations that the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) provoked a dramatic standoff this week with the U.S. Institute of Peace, culminating in what attorneys for the agency called a hostile “takeover” fueled by threats and harassment.
Federal prosecutors have threatened institute officials with criminal prosecution, DOGE members warned that a private security contractor would lose government contracts, and the institute’s president was forcibly removed by several law enforcement agencies – events that attorneys with the Department of Justice have not disputed.
In a hearing in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, District Judge Beryl Howell asked Justice Department attorneys whether Trump’s administration could enforce his executive order seeking to shutter the agency “without using the force of guns and threats by DOGE against American citizens.”
“I mean, this conduct of using law enforcement, threatening criminal investigations, using arms of law enforcement… probably terrorizing employees and staff at the institute, when there are so many other lawful ways to accomplish the goals… why?” she said.
“Just because DOGE is in a rush?”
The institute is not a federal agency but an independent nonprofit established by Congress under Ronald Reagan.
Its headquarters in Washington, D.C., is not government property, and its personnel are not federal employees.
The institute employs roughly 600 people in the United States and overseas with a congressional mandate to help resolve international conflicts.
Alex Woodward reports.
Judge rebukes DOGE for ‘terrorizing’ U.S. Institute of Peace with ‘guns and threats’
Justice Department motion tells deportation judge to be ‘more respectful’
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and other Trump administration lawyers told the federal judge who ordered a stop to the deportations of Venezuelans to a prison in El Salvador to be more “respectful” in an angry court filing on Wednesday.
“The court has no basis to intrude into the conduct of foreign affairs of the government, and a more deliberative and respectful approach is warranted,” the filing scolds.
Judge James Boasberg’s actions “represent grave usurpations of the president’s power,” it adds.
The language was the latest assault by the Trump administration on the power of the courts, which some have labelled a constitutional crisis as the president battles to become the supreme arbiter of everything in the nation.
Mary Papenfuss reports.
Cheeky DOJ motion tells federal deportation judge to be ‘more respectful’
Trump now accused of dodging court order to reverse federal firings
The Trump administration has been accused by another judge of failing to comply with his court order – in this case to reinstate federal employees fired during Elon Musk’s DOGE purges.
Six federal agencies – the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior, and Treasury – were ordered by Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court for Northern California to rehire all fired probationary employees.
But the Trump administration had responded by putting the fired workers on paid administrative leave.
Here’s the latest from Graig Graziosi.
Trump accused of dodging another court order — to reverse federal firings
Trump administration is seeking to deport Indian student at Georgetown as part of State Department crackdown
The Trump administration is reportedly attempting to deport an Indian post-doctoral fellow from Georgetown University, using the same obscure section of immigration law cited in the detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia grad and pro-Palestine protest leader.
The provision the government allegedly cites allows the Secretary of State to determine non-citizens are eligible for fast-track deportations if they threaten U.S. foreign policy interests.
Masked Department of Homeland Security agents arrived outside the Rosslyn, Virginia, home of Badar Khan Suri on Monday and told him his student visa had been revoked.
In a still-sealed habeas corpus petition filed on Tuesday, Suri’s lawyer said the fellow appeared to be in the process of being punished for the Palestinian heritage and political views of his wife Mapheze Saleh, a U.S. citizen.
Josh Marcus has more.
Trump administration seeks to deport another foreign student as part campus crackdown
Analysis: Putin’s drone attacks make mockery of Trump peace deal for Ukraine
The president followed up his call with the Kremlin on Tuesday by dialling up Volodymyr Zelensky, inevitably hailing their exchange as “fantastic” afterwards as he confirmed a partial ceasefire on energy targets.
Trump claimed the step is a crucial move along the road to securing a “real end to the war” but Vladimir Putin’s mass drone strikes hours immediately after agreeing to down tools makes a mockery of the whole process, says our international editor Chris Stevenson.
Putin’s drone attacks make mockery of Trump peace deal for Ukraine
Fox host asks Trump commerce secretary if gold card is ‘recipe for corruption’
Ingraham asked the president why he was putting a $5m price tag on American citizenship for wealthy foreigners, which yielded this answer:
The same question was put to Howard Lutnick by Jesse Watters on the same network a little more bluntly.
Lutnick later pivoted to promoting Tesla’s for Elon Musk, which might be considered somewhat unethical, I would venture to suggest.
Trump talks recession and redecorating with Laura Ingraham
The second instalment of the Fox anchor’s White House interview with the president aired last night, with Trump again refusing to rule out an economic downturn while promising sunshine after the storm for (checks notes, squints, lowers glasses) this “fat dumb foolish country.”
Trump has completely transformed the Oval Office – with gold ‘everywhere’
Trump expected to sign order dismantling Department of Education today
The president has long touted the closure of the federal agency responsible for America’s schooling in favor of leaving it up to the states and today looks finally like being the day.
The policy, which was also discussed in the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 manifesto that Trump claimed to have nothing to do with, is expected to be realised with the flourish of a fat Sharpie at a White House event this afternoon, with Education Secretary Linda McMahon, the former wrestling boss, looking on.
“The dream is we’re going to move the Department of Education, we’re going to move education into the states, so that the states, instead of bureaucrats working in Washington, so that the states can run education,” the president said last week.
“We think when you move it back to Iowa and Indiana and all of the states that run so well… 30, maybe almost 40, those will be as good as Denmark, those will be as good as Norway.”
According to USA Today, which first reported the development, McMahon will be instructed to undertake “all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the States.”
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