In the list of many doings of this administration that went down over the last week since the last weekly update, the one getting the most press at the moment is Trump’s executive order attempting to shutter the Department of Education. Since the signing of this executive order I have read many reactions to development, and it is obvious that a good portion of the public has not idea what the Department of Education really does or how much power this executive order carries to close the department. So, before I review the week that was I would like to provide a brief fact sheet regarding the Department of Education and its functions:

• The Department was created in 1980 after the Department of Education Organizing Act, which split the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare into two separate departments, was signed into law by President Jimmy Carter on October 17, 1979.

• The department DOES NOT set curriculum guidelines or requirements for schools nor does it set qualifications for teachers, put in place teacher evaluation measures, or handle the creation, administration, and assessment of standardized testing  

• The department DOES send roughly $33 billion to public schools for low income students and children with disabilities.

• The department’s Office for Civil Rights enforces laws that aim to prevent discrimination in our nation’s public schools.

• The department does provide upwards of 12 million students with grants, loans, and work study programs.

• The department oversees $1.6 trillion in student loan debt. 

• The department collects data on the nation’s schools and disseminates research.

• The focuses national attention on key issues affecting education and makes recommendations for education reform.

• The department did not begin with an executive order and cannot be undone by one. Since the creation of the department was done with an act of Congress, its closing must also be legislated. A bill would have to be introduced calling for the department to be shut down and must include a plan as to how the functions of the department would be transferred to other departments of agencies. The bill would then have to pass both chambers of Congress by a super majority.

So if you find yourself in a debate with someone over the Department of Education and its function or ability to be fully shut down by an executive order, feel free to share this information. That being said, on to the happenings of the week…and there were a lot of them:

The US Department of Energy designated South Korea a “sensitive” country due to recent unrest within its government. 

Threatened economic sanctions against Denmark over Greenland and asked Denmark if the US could purchase eggs from them and other nations. 

Ordered strikes against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. 

Announced that ISIS’ second in command was killed in Iraq this week. 

Invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 targeting Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal organization, contending it is a hostile force invading the United States on behalf of the Venezuelan government. This will allow Trump more leeway on policy and executive action to speed up mass deportations. This was later temporarily blocked by a federal judge. Despite the block thousands of immigrants were transferred to El Salvador. Elon Musk later supported the impeachment of the federal judge who issued the decision. In a rare twist, Chief Justice John Roberts weighed in stating that impeachment is not an appropriate method of dealing with a judge whose decision you disagree with. Trump also later seemed to admit to Fox News’ Steve Doocy that he did not sign the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1978 and is not sure who did. 

Shut down a program that tracks Ukrainian children abducted by Russia. 

Elon Musk posted on X that, “Stalin, Mao, and Hitler didn’t murder millions of people. The public sector workers did.”

Ordered the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences, which is the only federal agency that funds libraries nationwide. 

Announced there will be no exemptions on steel and aluminum tariffs. 

Announced that articles, photos, and videos that are seen as promoting DEI will be removed from the Arlington National Cemetery website. This will include a profile on Gen. Colin Powell and story about the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion which was the first corp composed of only African-American women. Thousands of photos presenting diverse veterans will also be removed. 

Announced that Pres. Biden’s pardons are “null and void” because they were signed via AutoPen. There is no legal way to undo a presidential pardon. 

Deported Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a professor at Brown University, back to Lebanon despite the fact that she held a visa and that the decision was blocked by a federal judge.  The White House claims photographs “sympathetic to Hezbollah” were found on her phone initiating the deportation. 

Ordered the dismantling of Voice of America, an international broadcasting state media funded by the federal government that produces radio, TV, and digital content in 48 languages and services non-American living outside the United States, especially those in countries without press freedom. 

Suspended some efforts to counter Russian sabotage. 

Removed the security detail for Hunter and Ashley Biden. 

Deported a ten year old girl who is an American citizen but whose parents are from Mexico and have been living in the United States illegally for more than a decade. The girl was on her way with her parents to receive treatment for brain cancer. 

Ended the Social Security Administration’s ability for Americans to verify their identity over the phone. This will now have to be done either online or in person. 

Deported a pro-Palestinian student at Georgetown University Georgetown University back to India. The Trump Administration is claiming the student has ties to Hamas, but there is no evidence to support this assertion. 

Signed an executive order that intends to essentially dismantle the Department of Education. However, closing the department can only happen with a vote by Congress that would require a supermajority. Announced the following day that student loans would now be handled by the Small Business Administration while all special needs and nutrition programs will be taken over by Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. 

Fired a federal pardon attorney for not restoring gun owning privileges to Mel Gibson. 

The Pentagon announced it is set to begin briefing Elon Musk on the US military’s top secret war plans in case war ever breaks out. 

Announced the preparation of an executive order to establish partial or full suspension on entry to the United States for 43 countries falling into three different tiers: red, orange, and yellow. The “red” list is composed of nations whose nationals would be barred for a yet to be determined temporary period. They include: Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. The “orange” list is composed of nations whose nationals would not be barred from entry into the United States, but must be properly vetted and screened at mandatory in-person visa interviews. They include: Belarus, Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, and Turkmenistan. The “yellow” list is composed of nations whose nationals have certain security deficiencies that must become compliant with government demands within a 60 day period or be moved to the “red” or “orange” lists. These include: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, São Tomé and Principe, Vanuatu, and Zimbabwe. 

Signed order directing government heads of agencies to grant federal officials access to unclassified agency records, data, and systems to stop waste and fraud. 

Threatened to send American citizens to prisons in El Salvador if they engage in vandalism against Tesla dealerships and offices. 

Announced plans to end the legal status of 532,000 migrants in the United States as part of the CHNV program, a Biden administration program which gives temporary humanitarian parole to migrants who qualify. Migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela, and Nicaragua will be affected. 

Deported Jerce Reyes Barrios, a Venezuelan soccer player with no criminal record or gang ties and escaped torture at the hands of the Maduro regime, to El Salvador. 

Withheld $400 million in federal funding from Columbia University alleging the university tolerated anti-semitism on campus. Columbia acquiesced to preconditions to restore funding including banning face masks on campus, empowering security officers to remove or arrest individuals, and taking control of the department that offers courses on the Middle East from its faculty.