🎓McMahon ordered to dismantle Education Department despite lacking statutory authority

Federal financial aid cuts eliminate $1,700 annually for families earning less than $50,000, forcing students to take predatory private loans or abandon higher education entirely. Working-class Americans lose access to college while wealthy families continue paying full tuition without federal assistance, increasing educational inequality along economic lines.

Federal research funding at universities created the internet, GPS, touchscreen technology, and medical treatments that generate trillions in economic value. Cutting academic research eliminates the basic science that produces breakthrough technologies while forcing American companies to buy innovations developed by foreign governments that continue investing in university research programs.

Native American educational sovereignty depends on federal support for schools serving communities that states historically ignored or actively oppressed. Eliminating tribal college funding destroys cultural preservation programs, career training, and educational access in communities that lack alternative higher education options due to geographic isolation and historical discrimination.

Presidential budget authority allows executives to eliminate appropriated programs while claiming fiscal responsibility, but costs shift to states, localities, and families rather than disappearing. Educational institutions face impossible choices between raising tuition, eliminating programs, or closing entirely when federal support vanishes without replacement revenue sources.