Hirono, Colleagues, Advocates Mark One Year Since Trump’s Disastrous Mass Firings at U.S. Department of Education

Full video of the press conference is available HERE | Photos are available HERE

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) held a press conference to mark one year of Donald Trump's all-out attack on the U.S. Department of Education (ED). Senator Hirono was joined by Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), education advocates, labor leaders, and other stakeholders-including former ED employees-to raise alarms about how the administration has shortchanged students, teachers, administrators, and federal workers.

"At every turn, President Trump and billionaire Secretary of Education Linda McMahon have created chaos and confusion-all at the expense of students. Trump is spending millions to undermine public education and prevent public servants from doing their jobs." said Senator Hirono. "We know this regime will continue its attacks on the Department of Education, federal workers, public schools, and the more than 50 million children who attend them. That's why it's so important that we continue calling attention to these attacks and holding this regime accountable."

On March 11, 2025, ED Secretary Linda McMahon fired 2,000 ED employees-nearly half the agency's workforce. Since then, the Administration has proposed illegally moving nearly all federal K-12 programs and many higher education programs to other federal agencies that have limited capacity to run these programs and no experience dealing with them. This move would essentially fulfill Trump's campaign promise to eliminate the Department altogether and remove the federal government's role in helping to ensure that all students have access to a quality education.

"It has been one year since Donald Trump took a chainsaw to the Department of Education-moving swiftly to dismantle it and fulfill a campaign pledge ripped out of the Project 2025 handbook," Senator Durbin said. "Congress created the Department of Education to ensure that all students-regardless of income, race, sex, or ability level-have equal access to a quality education. Instead of working to fulfil that mission, President Trump and Secretary McMahon are shuttering its doors."

"Donald Trump and his cronies' chainsaw approach to the Department of Education over the past year has not only decimated the Department's workforce but also undermined key initiatives that students and families count on. At a time when we should be focused on investing in and improving students' education, these harmful actions threaten our longstanding goal of ensuring that each new generation has greater opportunities than the last. I'll keep fighting to undo the serious damage this Administration has done to public education in this country and to strengthen our public schools so they can meet their full promise - providing equal access to high-quality education for every student, no matter their zip code," said Senator Van Hollen.

For the past year, Senator Hirono has fighting back against the Trump Administration's attacks on public education. Senator Hirono has hosted five spotlight forums, bringing together educators, students, administrators, advocates, and experts, to demonstrate the widespread consequences of ED rollbacks. Last month, she highlighted ED's efforts to dismantle support for over 800 Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) that serve over five million students nationwide. In December, her forum covered the Trump Administration's illegal attacks on federal programs. In September, she highlighted the cuts to student loans. In July, her forum spotlighted federal funding being withheld from K-12 public education programs. In June, she raised alarms about widespread cuts public education would face from the Big Ugly Bill. In the meantime, she has also held stakeholder roundtables and pushed for legislation that would protect federal education programs, including during the consideration of the Big Ugly Bill.

"The U.S. Department of Education and its hardworking staff deliver vital resources and support to tens of millions of students and families across the country, from early learning through graduate programs. The Trump Administration has shown it will stop at nothing - even ignoring court orders and violating federal law - to dismantle the Department and sow chaos for states and communities," said Rachel Gittleman, President of American Federation of Government Employees Local 252, which represents 2,000 current and former Education Department workers. "This is an insult to the students who rely on the Department to safeguard access to quality education and to the taxpayers who depend on federal oversight to prevent waste."

"In multiple national polls conducted across the political spectrum, parents - Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike - have been unambiguous: they want the Department of Education to continue to exist and to do its job," said National Parents Union President Keri Rodrigues. "Parents didn't sign up for chaos. We signed up for schools that work. We want the Department focused on what it was built to do - making sure every child can read, that math achievement is real, that families have actual choices that work for them."

"There are many great public schools but inequities persist. Picture a student sitting in a classroom where the textbooks are outdated, the counselor is responsible for hundreds of students, and the support services they rely on are stretched thin. Now imagine that same student facing racial harassment at school or being denied the special education services they need, while their family files a civil rights complaint hoping someone in Washington will step in to protect them. For generations, the U.S. Department of Education has been that backstop. But thanks to mass firings, thousands of families are left waiting for answers while more than 25,000 complaints sit unresolved. At the same time, funding meant to support public schools is being threatened. These actions constitute the intentional slow erosion of the public system meant to guarantee every child a fair chance to learn. When we weaken the Department of Education, it is students in under-resourced communities, especially Black and Brown students and those from low-income families, who feel the consequences most deeply. Public education is a cornerstone of our democracy, and protecting it means protecting the students whose futures depend on it," said Allison Socol EdTrust Vice President of P-12 Policy, Practice, and Research.

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