Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), the top Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee, issued a sharp rebuke Thursday following President Donald Trump’s executive order to begin dismantling the U.S. Department of Education—calling it a dangerous return to a time when civil rights in education were not guaranteed. Speaking to Raw Story, Scott didn’t mince words: “They know they’re discriminating, and now they can discriminate.”
The executive order, signed by Trump on Thursday, directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to initiate a plan to dramatically shrink the Department of Education and transfer most federal authority over schools back to the states. While the order fulfills a major Trump campaign promise and long-standing MAGA goal, fully eliminating the department would require an act of Congress—an uphill battle unlikely to pass in the current political climate, told Associated Press.
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The order seeks to retain only what the administration calls “essential functions,” such as student loan oversight, enforcement of civil rights laws, and administration of Pell Grants. Critics, however, argue the move is a calculated effort to weaken federal protections for vulnerable students. Scott warned that removing federal oversight from education would inevitably lead to increased inequality, pointing to America’s history prior to the Department of Education’s creation.
“If the Department of Education is eliminated, then the civil rights of students—the right of students to get an education—will be dependent on each and every state, and we know how that worked,” Scott said. “You could still have racial segregation in schools, students with disabilities would not be getting much education at all.”
Comparing the move to the gutting of the Voting Rights Act, Scott added, “You started seeing these states in the South particularly kind of revert back to some of their old ways.” Without federal protections like Title I and the Civil Rights Act, he warned, education access would again become unequal and inconsistent across state lines.
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“Those for whom the Education Department was there, they will be at a serious disadvantage,” Scott emphasized. He cited students from low-income and rural areas, non-English speakers, and those with disabilities as among the most likely to suffer if protections are left to state discretion.
“Parents of students with disabilities, it’s a fight,” Scott added. “The only thing they have on their side is federal law and the Department of Education. Leave it up to the states, they’re not going to get much.”
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