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After weeks of speculation, President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency announced plans to cut more than $880 million in employee contracts from the United States Department of Education on Monday night.

The cuts include several reductions to the department, with 89 DOEd employees removed from its payroll, including $101 million of the pulled funds set aside for 29 diversity, equity and inclusion grants, DOGE said on X. This move follows months of speculation and comments from Trump and his inner circle who had suggested significant changes to the department.

On Feb. 4, Trump told his nominee for DOEd Secretary, Linda McMahon, to “do a good job and put yourself out of a job,” the New York Post reported.

While these cuts will limit DOEd’s allocation capabilities, Trump didn’t dissolve the department entirely as he previously suggested. The president hasn’t clarified whether he still intends to pursue its dissolution.

Last week, the National Education Association said major changes to the department would cause “very real damage” to millions of public school students nationwide. According to neaToday, students living below the poverty line and those requiring special services for disabilities will face greater challenges as the department cuts many service and DEIA programs. As of 2022, 48.4% of children in the city of Syracuse live under the poverty line.

For Elon Musk, the leader of DOGE, stripping DOEd’s funding is one of many steps to cut federal spending he and Trump have called “wasteful.” Starting last week, Trump put thousands of U.S. Agency for International Development employees on leave as he begins merging the agency with the U.S. Department of State, BBC reported. Earlier this month, Musk called the USAID a “criminal organization.”

The cuts to DOEd mark the second major attempt by the new administration to reform education nationwide. About two weeks ago, Trump announced plans to freeze all loans, including FAFSA student loans. A federal judge has since blocked the efforts.

The DOEd is unlikely to be the last to face large cuts. On Tuesday afternoon, Musk confirmed on X that the president had transferred all federal downsizing responsibilities to DOGE. On Feb. 7, DOGE’s official X account announced it had terminated 199 “wasteful contracts” across 35 federal departments.

Though a private institution, Syracuse University receives DOEd funding for many of its science and technology projects as an R1 research university. Last week, SU Chancellor Kent Syverud sent a campus-wide email assuring the administration is assessing the impacts of Trump’s executive orders on students and faculty.

During last week’s University Senate meeting, Syverud said SU is committed to supporting transgender students and the LGBTQ+ community amid rising anti-trans legislation.

As of Tuesday evening, the university hasn’t further publicly addressed the changes to DOEd and how they could impact SU.

Published on February 11, 2025 at 10:43 pm

Contact Duncan: digreen@syr.edu