Kim Severson

Our theme music is by Jim Brumberg and Ben Landsberg of Wonderly. That's it for The Daily. I'm Kim Severson. See you tomorrow.

Our theme music is by Jim Brumberg and Ben Landsberg of Wonderly. That's it for The Daily. I'm Kim Severson. See you tomorrow.

From The New York Times, I'm Kim Severson. This is The Daily. In the coming days, President Trump is expected to sign an executive order that would, at least on paper, follow through on one of his major campaign promises, to abolish the U.S. Department of Education. The catch is, he still needs it to impose his vision on American schools.

From The New York Times, I'm Kim Severson. This is The Daily. In the coming days, President Trump is expected to sign an executive order that would, at least on paper, follow through on one of his major campaign promises, to abolish the U.S. Department of Education. The catch is, he still needs it to impose his vision on American schools.

Today, my colleague Dana Goldstein on how Trump is balancing a desire to both dismantle and weaponize the education department. It's Monday, March 10th. Dana, over the past few days, we've been hearing that President Trump has plans to abolish the Department of Education. And even for an administration that's been dismantling agencies across government, this felt pretty big.

Today, my colleague Dana Goldstein on how Trump is balancing a desire to both dismantle and weaponize the education department. It's Monday, March 10th. Dana, over the past few days, we've been hearing that President Trump has plans to abolish the Department of Education. And even for an administration that's been dismantling agencies across government, this felt pretty big.

You're a veteran education reporter. Talk to us about what's happening.

You're a veteran education reporter. Talk to us about what's happening.

Okay, this all sounds pretty drastic, eliminating the entire Department of Education. And I want to understand why he wants to do that. But before we get there, it might be helpful to understand, and I hate to admit that I don't know this, what exactly is the Department of Education responsible for?

Okay, this all sounds pretty drastic, eliminating the entire Department of Education. And I want to understand why he wants to do that. But before we get there, it might be helpful to understand, and I hate to admit that I don't know this, what exactly is the Department of Education responsible for?

So there's not like a federal rule about how much history a kid needs to graduate from high school. The feds do none of that.

So there's not like a federal rule about how much history a kid needs to graduate from high school. The feds do none of that.

So if the department got eliminated, would all those things just, poof, go away?

So if the department got eliminated, would all those things just, poof, go away?

But why even sign the executive order then? I mean, Trump's not exactly Mr. Follow the law all the time, but this seems pretty open and shut. It's a cabinet agency. So why sign an executive order abolishing it if it stands to be overturned in the courts?

But why even sign the executive order then? I mean, Trump's not exactly Mr. Follow the law all the time, but this seems pretty open and shut. It's a cabinet agency. So why sign an executive order abolishing it if it stands to be overturned in the courts?

And what do we imagine overhauling education would look like?

And what do we imagine overhauling education would look like?

Okay, so this is part of the overarching idea, like streamline the government, take things out of the federal government's hands as much as possible, save a bunch of money, get rid of workers who may be are perceived to not be needed. This is basically kind of a doge operation. Is that right?

Okay, so this is part of the overarching idea, like streamline the government, take things out of the federal government's hands as much as possible, save a bunch of money, get rid of workers who may be are perceived to not be needed. This is basically kind of a doge operation. Is that right?