President Donald Trump planned to sign an executive order to begin the process of dismantling the Department of Education (ED) on Thursday, or so the Fourth Estate declared. By Wednesday night, March 5, reports swirled around internet news sites – citing anonymous sources, of course – saying the ED kill order would be signed by 2 p.m. on March 6.
But 2 p.m. came, and there was no executive order. Then 3 p.m., and still nothing. Indeed, even as the day turned to night – and as Thursday became Friday – the prophesied presidential action never materialized. Was it all just fake news, as White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X Thursday morning, or is there more to this story than meets the eye?
The Order That Never Came
The Wall Street Journal posted an exclusive Wednesday night, announcing in its opening paragraph that “President Trump is expected to issue an executive order as soon as Thursday aimed at abolishing the Education Department, according to people briefed on the matter.” The outlet claimed to have been shown a draft of the order, which allegedly directed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Education Department” to “the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.”
“The order has been in the works since Trump’s transition,” the WSJ explained. “In early February, the Journal reported that administration officials were considering such a move.”
According to various media reports, some undoubtedly based on the WSJ exclusive and others that seemingly cited anonymous sources of their own, both McMahon and Trump’s allegedly drafted order acknowledged that abolishing the department would require an act of Congress. The department itself was created and given many of its tasks through various acts of Congress, and therefore, it lies beyond the president’s power to abolish it by fiat.
However, that executive order never came – just as Press Secretary Leavitt said would be the case in a Thursday morning X post. “More Fake News! President Trump is NOT signing an Executive Order on the Department of Education today,” she posted to the social media platform at 9:54 a.m. – precisely 12 hours and 30 minutes after the WSJ’s 9:24 p.m. exclusive, which she reposted.
Fake News, Epic Troll, or Clever Ploy? Speculation Abounds
So, was The Wall Street Journal’s exclusive, and the flurry of press coverage that followed, all just fake news? Speculation abounds. It is entirely possible that the WSJ writers either lied or were mistaken. Possible, that is, but unlikely. After all, fabricating a story that explicitly states the president is going to sign a specific executive order at a predetermined time is hardly the kind of “fake news” one might expect from even the most TDS-riddled woke journalists. General character assassination hit pieces are one thing, but making up blatant lies that are almost certain to be disproved is hardly conducive to a reporter’s ability to continue paying the bills.
Indeed, if it was fake news, it’s far more likely they were duped. And that’s where things get interesting. If the press was conned, then by whom? It could be that the unnamed sources lied. Anonymity does grant one a certain freedom from accountability.
However, there’s another possibility that is making the social media rounds. What if Trump or someone else high up in the administration fabricated the story to either discredit certain media outlets or to flush out leakers? Showing a draft to one person – or even different drafts to different people – would be an effective way of finding out who can be trusted and who will run to the press. One needs only to wait for the news to break and then – if and when it does – scan the reports for specific planted details.
On the other hand, some suggest the draft was real but that the backlash from the leak going live convinced the administration to pull the plug on it. Again, it’s possible. However, the news broke just before 10 p.m., and by 10 a.m. the next day, the White House had denied it. That is about 12 hours, sure, but most Americans spend the majority of that time asleep. In any case, whether a knee-jerk reaction to a negative public response or an attack on the Fourth Estate’s credibility, it would be difficult to prove such an order ever truly almost existed, leaving the administration plenty of room for denial.
Finally, some fixate on the word “today” in Leavitt’s post. It’s “fake news” because the executive order isn’t coming “today” – but maybe tomorrow or someday soon. As silly a suggestion as that may seem at first glance, remember that this is the administration of a president who frequently cracks jokes at the media’s expense and that it includes the man who bought Twitter, now X, and stood outside the headquarters holding a sink telling those inside to “let this sink in.” Was it all an elaborate plan to troll the press? Probably not – but if it was, then an epic troll it has been.
Is the End of the Department of Education Nigh?
While we may never know what really happened – or didn’t happen – with the notably absent executive order, President Trump’s plan to dismantle the Department of Education remains very real, and steps are being taken to bring it to fruition. While a successful bill to officially abolish it – or even move many of its functions to other parts of the government – would be next to impossible to pass with just a 53-seat Republican majority in the Senate (it would require 60 votes in the upper chamber), such legislative attempts are still likely.
There are other options to pare down the department without officially ending it. As Fox reported on Monday, the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, terminated 29 DEI training grants worth a combined $101 million earlier in the month before announcing the cancellation of another 89 worth a total of $881 million. The Department of Education ended ten contracts with Regional Educational Laboratories worth $336 million after revealing what it called “wasteful and ideologically driven spending not in the interest of students and taxpayers,” the outlet added.
The Department of Education also offered employees a “Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment (VSIP),” according to Newsweek. The outlet reports that the department confirmed, in response to an email, that it was offering employees up to $25,000 each for any who agreed by 11:59 p.m. ET on Monday, March 3, to retire or quit. The buyout offer came with the warning that a “very significant Reduction of Force” was coming soon.
Whatever comes of this mysterious disappearing presidential action, the Department of Education is certainly facing the wrath of Trump. And with or without this executive order, the end may be nigh.
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