New Responses from Education, Treasury Departments Reveal Trump Admin Cannot Justify Attempts to Dismantle Education Department

Skip to primary navigation Skip to content × Close Mobile Nav About About Elizabeth Committee Assignments About Massachusetts Voting Record Contact Share Your Opinion Help with a Federal Agency Office Locations Send me Updates Share Your CFPB Story Save Our Schools Services Help with a Federal Agency Return to Repayment Guide Visiting DC/Tours Flag Request Internships Meeting Requests Academy Nominations Special Recognitions Grants Small Businesses Veterans, Servicemembers and Military Families FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act Requests FY 2027 Appropriations Requests Oversight Reports Letters Social Security War Room Save Our Schools Campaign Legislation Newsroom News Coverage Press Releases Op-Eds Videos × Close Site Search search Elizabeth Warren Senator Elizabeth Warren's Facebook Page (This link opens in new window or tab.) Senator Elizabeth Warren's BlueSky (This link opens in new window or tab.) Senator Elizabeth Warren's Twitter (This link opens in new window or tab.) Senator Elizabeth Warren's Youtube (This link opens in new window or tab.) Senator Elizabeth Warren's Instagram (This link opens in new window or tab.) About About Elizabeth Committee Assignments About Massachusetts Voting Record Contact Share Your Opinion Help with a Federal Agency Office Locations Send me Updates Share Your CFPB Story Save Our Schools Services Help with a Federal Agency Return to Repayment Guide Visiting DC/Tours Flag Request Internships Meeting Requests Academy Nominations Special Recognitions Grants Small Businesses Veterans, Servicemembers and Military Families FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act Requests FY 2027 Appropriations Requests Oversight Reports Letters Social Security War Room Save Our Schools Campaign Legislation Newsroom News Coverage Press Releases Op-Eds Videos Español Close Search Open Search Popup Popup Search Close Search Popup MENU Senator Elizabeth Warren's Facebook Page (This link opens in new window or tab.) Senator Elizabeth Warren's BlueSky (This link opens in new window or tab.) Senator Elizabeth Warren's Twitter (This link opens in new window or tab.) Senator Elizabeth Warren's Youtube (This link opens in new window or tab.) Senator Elizabeth Warren's Instagram (This link opens in new window or tab.) Home Newsroom Press Releases May 04, 2026 New Responses from Education, Treasury Departments Reveal Trump Admin Cannot Justify Attempts to Dismantle Education Department Response from ED (PDF) | Response from Treasury (PDF) Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking Committee, released new responses from the Department of Education (ED) and the Treasury Department (Treasury) demonstrating that the agencies cannot articulate a clear purpose or plan for implementing their illegal interagency agreement (IAA) transferring the administration of federal student loans to Treasury. The responses were in reply to Senator Warren’s April 2nd letter with Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), pressing Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to rescind the IAA. In new responses to the senators, the agencies failed to provide basic details about the implementation of the agreement, including timing, cost, and Treasury’s plans for forced collections, or concretely explain how the agreement will help borrowers and families. Treasury also confirmed that while ED is transferring staff to Treasury to execute the IAA, Treasury is also transferring staff to ED, raising further concerns that the arrangement is wasting staff and resources. Previous IAAs have cost ED over $1 million in extra program costs and resulted in weeks-long delays in grant disbursements that students and schools rely upon. While ED and Treasury again insisted in the new responses that their IAA is legal, Secretary McMahon admitted to Senator Warren last year that she understands she has no authority to move the statutory responsibilities of the Department of Education to other agencies without Congress passing legislation first. “The Trump administration has no explanation for how this latest attempt to dismantle the Education Department is helping anyone — because it isn’t,” said Senator Warren . “The truth is that Trump is jacking up costs for borrowers and wasting resources. This illegal agreement is bad for students and families, and I'll do everything I can to fight back." Senator Warren has led the fight to make our higher education system more affordable, cancel student loan debt, and hold student loan servicers accountable for incompetence and malfeasance. She launched the Save Our Schools campaign in a coordinated effort to fight back against President Trump’s attempts to abolish the Department of Education. On April 28, 2026, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) pressed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new Student Loan Ombudsman , Geof