Watching Washington: Spring Begins on Capitol Hill
The start of the spring season on Capitol Hill has ushered in a fresh wave of political action, with a new executive order, a high-security meeting and arguments between the U.S. president and U.S. Supreme Court filling the federal government’s calendar.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order March 20 closing the Department of Education to “return authority over education to the States and local communities,” according to the document. The new order states that recent statistics published by the National Assessment of Educational Progress indicate the federal department is not serving American students effectively, as “70 percent of 8th graders were below proficient in reading, and 72 percent were below proficient in math.”
The order also states that the Department of Education cost taxpayers roughly 200 billion during COVID-19 and approximately 60 billion each year for “federal school funding.”
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon showed her approval for the new executive order in a press release the date it was enacted. She said the order is “history-making,” calling it a positive move toward supporting the states’ role in education.
“Closing the Department does not mean cutting off funds from those who depend on them — we will continue to support K-12 students, students with special needs, college student borrowers, and others who rely on essential programs,” McMahon said. “We’re going to follow the law and eliminate the bureaucracy responsibly by working through Congress to ensure a lawful and orderly transition.”
While McMahon and Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts said this executive action will help the American educational system, NAACP President Derrick Johnson does not support the order, according to the Associated Press.
“This is a dark day for the millions of American children who depend on federal funding for a quality education, including those in poor and rural communities with parents who voted for Trump,” Johnson said in a report by the AP.
Meanwhile, tensions increased between Elon Musk and the media March 21 after the New York Times released a report stating that Musk was going to be briefed on U.S. defense plans on Friday for a “potential” war with China, according to NBC.
However, Trump said the senior advisor to the president visited the Defense Department to discuss matters concerning his role “as the architect of the administration’s government efficiency efforts,” according to the WSJ.
In response to these claims, U.S. defense officials said the tech titan arrived at the Pentagon for an “unclassified meeting.” According to Reuters, Musk met with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon for “80 minutes” to discuss “innovation and efficiencies.”
Trump told reporters March 21 that Musk would never be privy to U.S. defense plans if the nation were to prepare for war involving other countries such as China. Trump said it would be a conflict of interest for Musk to be involved in these talks because of his “businesses in China,” according to the WSJ.
Other activity on the Hill this week included a heated social media debate between the president and Chief Justice John Roberts regarding nationwide injunctions and calls for the impeachment of judges who have been critical of Trump’s policies.
Trump and Roberts’ public argument spawned after the president requested in a Truth Social post March 18 that U.S. District Judge James Boasberg be impeached for trying to halt a series of deportation flights that were in the process of bringing illegal Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador, according to FOX News.
The commander in chief also issued a statement via a post on Truth Social March 20 and 21 calling for Roberts to stop federal judges from issuing “nationwide injunctions.”
Roberts then released a statement opposing Trump by saying “impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” according to FOX News.
“If Justice Roberts and the United States Supreme Court do not fix this toxic and unprecedented situation IMMEDIATELY, our Country is in very serious trouble,” Trump wrote in his March 20 post on Truth Social.
According to NBC, Trump is currently facing over 100 lawsuits for his latest policy moves. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that the judges acting against the Trump administration are “partisan activists.”
According to Harvard Law Review, five of the injunctions against Trump’s first administration originated from Republican-appointed judges, whereas the other “92% of injunctions” came from judges appointed by a Democrat. In total, Trump dealt with 64 injunctions during his first administration which is “far more than any president since 2001,” according to NBC.
All facts from this article were accurate at the time of publishing.
Davis is the Editor-in-Chief of the Liberty Champion. Follow her on X.
