May 06, 2025

ICYMI: Warren Shuts Down Trump Administration Arguments That Dismantling Department of Education Won’t Harm American Families

Warren: “Three billionaires should not be permitted to destroy public education for millions of children across this country.”

Video of Exchange (YouTube)

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), in a forum held by Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.), highlighted the consequences of President Trump and Secretary Linda McMahon’s reckless dismantling of the Department of Education (ED) for American families.  

Senator Warren slammed President Trump and Secretary McMahon’s efforts to abolish the Department of Education and pushed back on their claims that they could dismantle ED while ensuring the “effective and uninterrupted delivery of services.”  

Secretary McMahon recently fired nearly half of ED’s employees, including the team responsible for overseeing student loan servicers. Tasha R. Berkhalter, student loan borrower and veteran, testified that without the assistance of ED employees working to protect borrowers from servicer errors, she would have no recourse against costly mistakes such as double charges to her student loan—forcing her to choose between paying her loan or supporting her family. 

Diane Wilcutts, Director at Education Advocacy, testified on how students with disabilities would be harmed if the Trump Administration follows through on its plan to move special education policy from ED to the Department of Health and Human Services. Ms. Wilcutts explained that “This would be the equivalent of going to your pediatrician and asking them to teach your child to read. They just don't have those qualifications.”

Senator Warren also highlighted how students will be impacted by the mass firings of half of ED’s Office for Civil Rights. Denise Forte, President and CEO of Education Trust, described the office as a critical “safeguard” for students affected by discrimination or civil rights violations. She warned that given the office’s high caseload, the cuts will make it difficult for it to protect students’ civil rights as it is lawfully authorized to do.

“[W]e are in the fight to put a stop to this. Three billionaires should not be permitted to destroy public education for millions of children across this country,” concluded the senator.

Last month, Senator Warren launched the Save Our Schools campaign in a coordinated effort to fight back against President Trump’s attempts to abolish the Department of Education:

  • On April 24, 2025, Senator Warren launched a new investigation into the harms of President Trump’s attacks on the Department of Education, seeking information on the impact of the Trump administration’s actions from the members of twelve leading organizations representing schools, parents, teachers, students, borrowers, and researchers.

  • On April 10, 2025, following a request led by Senator Warren, the Department of Education’s Acting Inspector General agreed to open an investigation into the Trump administration’s attempts to dismantle the Department of Education.

  • On April 2, 2025, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Mazie Hirono, along with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, sent a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon regarding the Department of Government Efficiency’s proposed plan to replace the Department of Education’s federal student aid call centers with generative artificial intelligence chatbots.

  • On April 2, 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren launched the Save Our Schools campaign to fight back against the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the Department of Education (ED) and highlight the consequences for every student and public school in America.

  • On March 27, 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) led a letter to Acting Department of Education Inspector General (IG) René Rocque requesting that the IG conduct an investigation of the Trump Administration’s attempts to dismantle the Department of Education.

  • On March 20, 2025, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders led a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon regarding the Trump Administration’s decision to slash the capacity of Federal Student Aid to handle student aid complaints.

  • On February 24, 2025, in a response to Senator Warren, Secretary McMahon gave her first public admission that she “wholeheartedly” agreed with Trump’s plans to abolish the Department of Education.

  • On February 11, 2025, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Andy Kim sent Linda McMahon, Secretary-Designate for the U.S. Department of Education, a 12-page letter with 65 questions on McMahon's policy views in advance of her nomination hearing.

Transcript: Abandoning America’s Promise: The Real Cost of Dismantling the Department of Education.
Senate Appropriations Committee Spotlight Hearing
May 6, 2025

Senator Elizabeth Warren: Thank you, Ranking Member Murray. I appreciate your holding this important forum and appreciate all of you for being here today and for the work you do and the advocacy you do. 

As we speak, co-presidents Donald Trump and Elon Musk are working hard to abolish the Department of Education, and make no mistake, this is an all-out assault on public education. The cherry on top is that it's all part of a Republican plan to make hardworking Americans pay more so that billionaires can get even more tax giveaways. But here's the thing: Trump and Musk, along with Education Secretary McMahon, aren't crazy enough to say that directly to the American people. They don't actually say, ‘This is what we're trying to do,’ because the American people really wouldn't like that. 

So instead, they've said they can burn down an entire agency while ensuring “the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services.” So I just want to test that claim, and spoiler alert, I think it's a big fat lie. 

So let's go into this. So, let's start with Trump already firing half of the staff at the Department of Education, including reportedly eliminating the team responsible for overseeing the student loan companies. So, Ms. Berkhalter, you were a student loan borrower for many years. You've described this in your testimony, but I want to ask you a question here: What would have happened if the company that managed your loans had double-charged you for a month and there was no one at the Department of Education whose job it is to help you get this straightened out?

Ms. Tasha R. Berkhalter: Thank you for the question. I would have been stuck in a terrible position. To be responsible paying for hundreds of dollars more than I already was for that month, I would not have been able to do—supporting my family and make a payment. So, I just would have had to not make the payment and watch my credit score continue to deplete, because I definitely would have chosen to take care of home versus being put in that position to pay that double payment.

Senator Warren: Yeah, you know, and I use that as just one example. If there's nobody home to fix the mistakes, because we all know mistakes are going to happen, if there's nobody home to fix the mistakes, then the person who's the victim of the error is the one who now pays. You either pay by paying double, or you pay by seeing your credit destroyed. You pay by falling further and further behind, and the problem snowballs because you're not making your payments on time. 

That's not all. The Education Department also helps support 7 million public school students with disabilities all across this country. The work is very near and dear to my own heart as a former special-ed teacher, but Donald Trump is trying to move that work over to the Department of Health and Human Services. 

So, Ms. Wilcutts, you're an expert in special education policy. How would students be affected if HHS takes over special ed policy for the federal government?

Ms. Diane Wilcutts: It would be a disaster to have the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act being overseen by Health and Human Services. They do not have the bandwidth, they do not have the expertise. Someone mentioned to me that this would be the equivalent of going to your pediatrician and asking them to teach your child to read. They just don't have those qualifications, right?

Senator Warren: Okay, so again, effectively, nobody's home to do the work, and not the people with the expertise to do the work. Okay. I want to do one more. Okay, as if this is not bad enough, federal civil rights laws say that all kids, no matter their race, no matter whether they have disabilities, all kids must be able to get a quality education in their public schools. But the Trump administration has fired nearly half the public servants who are responsible for defending student civil rights and closed seven of the eleven regional offices, including, I want to note, the offices in Boston, Cleveland, and Dallas. 

Ms. Forte, you are a nationally recognized student advocate. How will students be affected by Trump's cuts to the Department of Civil Rights Enforcement?

Ms. Denise Forte: I think you rightly pointed out that the Office of Civil Rights has been a safeguard for students across this country, whether it is a student facing discrimination because of their hair or whether it's a student with disabilities or a student facing sexual harassment in the classroom. They are there for all students. The caseload that the Office of Civil Rights previously had was alarmingly high already, and the gutting of this office, the firing of expert lawyers who've been doing this work for so long, does a disservice to students and families across this country. Alongside the politicization of that office, it is hard to understand how they will be able to carry out the work that they are lawfully authorized to do.

Senator Warren: You know, I appreciate your putting it that way. This is not about efficiency. It's not about making government work more effectively. This is about just not doing the work. And it's another way to try to repeal the laws that we've put in place, the laws that say, for example, that you're entitled to get your student loan payments and have them be accurate if you're going to pay this off. Or the laws that say we are not going to discriminate against our children with disabilities. We're not going to discriminate against children based on their sex or based on their race. And what Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Secretary McMahon, billionaires all, want to do is basically just take those rights away from our children, to take them away from us, and whoever gets hurt is just who's going to have to pick up the cost here. That's why we are in the fight to put a stop to this. Three billionaires should not be permitted to destroy public education for millions of children across this country. So, thank you again for being part of this.

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