Elizabeth Warren calls on Education Secretary McMahon to resign amid department dismantling
Warren opened up the opinion piece by recalling that soon after McMahon was sworn in, Warren brought her into her office, looked directly at her and asked if she believed she could dismantle the Department of Education.
McMahon responded that she did not have the legal power to do so.
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“But here we are,” Warren wrote.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon speaks to reporters at the White House, Nov. 20, 2025. HAIYUN JIANG/NYT
The Education Department announced on Nov. 18 that it would move some of its largest grant programs to other federal agencies, marking a escalation of the Trump administration’s effort to shut down the department.
Following the move, a group of teachers, school districts, unions, and a disability advocacy organization sued the Trump administration, calling it unlawful.
Since taking office, President Trump has campaigned on shutting down the Education Department, which was created by Congress in 1979. In March, Trump signed an executive order to start the process, but fully eliminating the department requires congressional approval.
In her op-ed, Warren pointed to one of the major moves, which would transfer control of major K-12 funding, including Title I aid for low-income schools, to the Department of Labor.
“Title I provides the biggest federal fund for K-12 schools and is used to help pay for good teachers and new textbooks all across America. School administrators are concerned that these changes may result in bigger class sizes, fewer afterschool and tutoring programs, and not enough workbooks for our kids because federal funding isn’t coming through,” Warren wrote.
Citing her experience as a special education teacher, Warren said that families depend on the Education Department to provide the resources their children need.
“To me, what’s at stake in this fight is more than the future of a federal agency,” Warren wrote. “It’s about whether our country is truly committed to the idea of public education: the idea that anyone, no matter where they are born or how much money their parents have, can get a first-class education.”
Savannah Newhouse, a spokesperson for the Education Department, called Warren’s opinion piece a “tirade.”
“Our sole focus is doing whatever it takes to fix the mess — even if it means going against the status quo,” Newhouse said in a statement.
Alyssa Vega can be reached at alyssa.vega@globe.com.
