The Trump administration is taking steps to pull apart the Department of Education, according to sources close to the matter. The plan involves an executive order that would kick off efforts to reduce the department’s role, with a long-term goal of shutting it down entirely.

President Donald Trump has long criticized the department, calling it a symbol of unnecessary federal control. The order would task the Education Secretary with crafting a strategy to scale back its operations through executive actions. However, fully eliminating the department would require Congress to pass specific legislation—a hurdle that has proven insurmountable in the past.

This isn’t the first time the idea has surfaced. During Trump’s first term, his team proposed merging the Education and Labor Departments, but the plan stalled even with a Republican-controlled Congress. Now, the effort appears to be gaining momentum again, this time alongside broader initiatives to streamline the federal workforce.

The Education Department has already seen signs of this shift. Dozens of employees were recently placed on paid leave as part of a broader push to reduce diversity and inclusion programs. On the campaign trail, Trump tied the department to cultural debates, vowing to end what he called the “government education swamp.”

If the department is dissolved, some of its programs could be transferred to other agencies. For instance, funding for K-12 schools that support low-income families and students with disabilities predates the department’s creation in 1979. Historically, Congress has resisted deep cuts to education funding, often allocating more than presidents have requested.

Whether this latest effort succeeds remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: the Trump administration is making moves to shrink the federal footprint in education.