Trump says he intends to shut down the Department of Education immediately.
The US president acknowledged that he would need the support of Congress and teachers' unions to fulfill his campaign promise.
By Nandita Bose and Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he wants the federal Department of Education shut down immediately.
Trump stated last week that he would like to shut down the Department of Education with an executive order, but acknowledged that he would need the support of Congress and teachers' unions to fulfill his campaign promise.
The immediate closure of the Department of Education would halt the allocation of tens of billions of dollars in aid for K-12 schools and tuition assistance for college students.
Trump spent his first weeks in office promoting major changes in the federal government, demanding that federal employees return to their offices or resign, pursuing cost cuts, and attempting to close agencies such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The Department of Education is at the top of Trump's target list.
"I would like it to be shut down immediately," Trump told reporters on Wednesday. "The Department of Education is a huge fraud."
Trump proposed closing the Department of Education during his first term, between 2017 and 2021, but Congress did not vote on it. The agency employs 4.245 people and spent $251 billion in the most recent year.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose and Kanishka Singh; additional reporting by Andy Sullivan and Trevor Hunnicutt)
