Capitol News

Michigan Republican Party Chair Jim Runestad voiced support for President Donald Trump's recent move to reduce the size of the U.S. Department of Education. Speaking on Newsmax's "Wake Up America," Runestad described Trump's actions as positive for Michigan students.

"The Democrats just voted to reaffirm their commitment to DEI [diversity, equity, inclusion] when Michigan’s scores are collapsing," Runestad said. "We’re the second-worst for fourth grade reading in the nation. The numbers are coming down dramatically, and this is their focus. I love what the president is doing. He’s saying let’s return the billions and billions being spent by the Education Department back to the states, like it was prior to 1979, when we used to have some of the best schools in the nation. Since ’79, we’ve spent $3 trillion, and it’s been poured down a rat hole because there’s been no improvement in test scores."

Runestad argued that state officials should have more control over education funding instead of federal authorities: "Get the dollars back to the local schools, to the states, where the parents can start making decisions, where it can really have an impact locally on those students, where they can make decisions with their parents about how they want money spent," he said. "Right now, it’s some detached bureaucrat that no one knows that probably never even been in a classroom dispensing billions of dollars. So, this is wonderful."

On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order aimed at shrinking the Education Department as part of a campaign promise. The White House clarified that essential functions such as Title I funding for low-income schools, Pell grants for college students from low-income families, funding for children with disabilities, and management of federal student loans would continue.

Despite these changes announced by Trump—which were reported by Newsmax (https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/michigan-jim-runestad-donald-trump/2025/03/21/id/1203793)—fully dismantling the department would require congressional approval since it was established by Congress in 1979.

Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill plan to introduce legislation supporting Trump's efforts to significantly scale back or eliminate parts of the department. Trump has attributed declines in academic performance across America partly to what he views as wasteful spending and ineffective federal oversight within education policy.