House Democrats hold a press briefing to discuss their meeting with Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Good morning, everybody. Thank you for being here today. My name is Mark Takano.
00:04I'm a senior member of the Educational Workforce Committee. I'm accompanied by
00:09Representatives Wilson, Raskin, Moore, Sewell, Kassar, Beyer, Elfrith, Johnson, Escobar,
00:17Stansbury, and Goodlander. I'll give you a brief readout of our meeting and then
00:22open up for questions. We have just met with Secretary of Education Linda
00:26McMahon to demand answers on the Trump administration's illegal actions to shut
00:31down the Department of Education. We came today to cut through the
00:35misinformation and chaos that this administration has intentionally sowed
00:39to get at the truth. And here's the truth. Executive orders are not laws and they
00:44do not have the power to create laws. Only Congress can do that. The Department
00:50of Education was established by Congress 45 years ago. It cannot be closed without
00:55congressional action. That is illegal. Despite Secretary
01:00McMahon's assurance to senators during her confirmation hearing that Congress
01:03is legally required to be involved in any major structural changes to the
01:07department, her actions along with those of the president have consistently
01:11contradicted both her own words and the Constitution. So we have come to her and
01:18today we demanded answers about the department's timeline for closing. We
01:22asked about how civil rights would be enforced with a drastically cut
01:29Office of Civil Rights, what cuts to early childhood education programs
01:33would be enacted, and how students would be guaranteed their right to a free and
01:37fair and equal education. We asked to be given details on contract cancellations,
01:42the gutting of federal staff, and the choking off of federal funding. So let me
01:47just say I'll depart from what my prepared remarks were and report just
01:53very briefly on what actually happened in the meeting. I have to say that the
01:57secretary indicated more than once that before she moved any functions of the
02:02department to other departments, to any other place, that she was looking
02:07carefully at what the statute allows her to do. That was refreshing information
02:13that the secretary conveyed to all of us and we certainly hope that she sticks
02:18to what she said to us today, that she is looking to what the statute allows her
02:23to do. For a generally lawless, extra constitutional, extra legal
02:30administration at the top, the words from this secretary were much different than
02:35I had expected. We did ask we did ask questions about how civil rights would
02:42be enforced, that the largest civil rights enforcement entity is in this
02:47very department and it has been reduced substantively by actual dismissals of
02:53personnel. She again, you know, left me with the impression, and left many
03:01of us with the impression, that she was still considering the matter of how she
03:05would move, say, OCR to HHS or maybe even the Department of Justice. Not clear
03:13about where that stands. I'm going to end my comments here because I have many
03:19colleagues who were in that meeting. I invite your questions and certainly I
03:24invite my colleagues to respond as they feel, you know, most authoritatively on
03:30what questions they could answer. So I'm going to end my comments here and so any
03:36questions you may have. Yes.
03:47Colleagues, anything, anybody want to respond to that? Go ahead, go ahead.
03:54She's going to transfer student loans to the Small Business Administration and
04:01she, as we stand here, they're dismantling the Department of Education.
04:09It might sound so systemic or they're using a good approach but I am in shock
04:18that after all of these years and we know what will happen to young children.
04:27I'm a school principal, a school administrator, a school board member and
04:32I know what happens when schools do not have oversight from the federal
04:39government. When states do not have oversight for the federal government to
04:45educate their children. I'm from Florida. I'm from Florida and my governor is
04:52trying to privatize every school, ban books and disallow children of identity.
05:01So for the Department of Education to be dismantled is going to be a shock to
05:10this nation because schools are the bedrock of this country. When schools
05:16are working, our country is moving. What happened during the pandemic? During the
05:23pandemic, everyone was at a standstill until schools opened and when schools
05:29opened, then everyone is moving. So that's what's supposed to happen to
05:36student loans.
05:40The Department is going to help moving these different parts of the administration out of its feet and the Secretary going to do more?
05:47People are in panic. People are afraid. Parents are afraid. Children are afraid.
05:54We don't know. Everything is, this is what we think. This is what might happen.
06:02This is how we do it and the Secretary herself doesn't know. She's not an
06:07educator. She's using the people who work in this building to help her move
06:14through this process. But we asked her if she would keep us informed as they
06:21went along. Go ahead. I think something important for everyone to know is that
06:29the overarching theme with the various functions where we're going, we're
06:35cutting the bureaucracy and we're going to send the money to the states. That
06:41was the overarching message. I will say it was really refreshing to be able to
06:46sit in a room and ask our questions. We are all very grateful that she took the
06:51time to respond to our letter and she allowed more questions than what we
06:57had planned for, which is a great sign and we hope to continue the open lines
07:03of communication with her and we're grateful for that. But when you cut the
07:07bureaucracy, especially in the way that this administration has done, the
07:12consequences are always bad. We are hearing from our constituents about the
07:17cuts to the IRS and the long wait times to talk to someone. We're hearing about
07:23the same thing with social security. When you cut the people who administer
07:29the programs, when you cut the people who provide oversight for contractors
07:35and for how the money is spent, there is no doubt that the recipients of those
07:40programs will be negatively impacted. The other component that is terrifying
07:46for those of us in red states is we have governors who may not want to
07:51administer the money or they will use the money in a way that is punitive to
07:57districts and communities they don't like and rewards communities and
08:01districts that they do like or who are politically aligned. We're seeing that
08:06retribution form of government from the trump administration every single day,
08:11every single hour. The other um source of concern for those of us in texas and
08:18in other red states is what we've seen with health care funding in texas when
08:25it comes to medicare funding for example. Well the state of texas uses
08:31poor communities like El Paso which I represent to pull down federal funding
08:36then decides we're gonna we're gonna send the money to communities using a
08:42different formula and they make up whatever formula they want. The federal
08:47government is the great equalizer making sure that kids are protected,
08:53making sure that the money is going where it needs to go. So the idea that
08:58we're going to cut the federal bureaucracy, the literal translation of
09:02that and what what the american public should expect is that we're cutting the
09:06oversight and we're cutting the ability to ensure that the money gets where it
09:11needs to go even if the money stays put. Next question. Um yes, go ahead.
09:18Uh two questions. One is, is there any indication of any oversight that would
09:23be required? What is it? Is the money just going to the state and then the
09:27federal government?
09:30And then the second one is
09:34does this meeting change
09:38Okay, I'll take the first question and then call him. Mr Raskin. I think very
09:44unclear. She kept talking about money going back to the states. Uh she
09:49distinguished between title one uh and how title one is administered. But we
09:54didn't get into uh which I uh certainly hope there'll be more groups going to
10:00see her after this uh about block granting. I think that's a big concern
10:04reflected by many colleagues already is as block granting money so that
10:09governors will have discretion uh inadequate oversight over how money gets
10:14spent. Uh the elimination or drastic reduction, the skeletal crew that
10:20remains with OCR. How are students with disabilities uh going to have their
10:25right to a meaningful education under I. D. E. A. How is that going to be
10:30enforced? Uh their parents of students with disabilities all across this
10:33country who are very scared about their students not getting uh served by
10:39school districts. And of course as Veronica Escobar mentioned that the
10:43federal government is the great equalizer, making sure that every child
10:46has a right to a meaningful education where that child has disabilities,
10:50where that child comes from a certain religious background, whether they come
10:54from a racial background, a gender, that's what OCR is charged with doing
10:58it, what Congress set up and it's no no mistake that they have regional
11:02offices where inspectors go out to the schools to ensure that those rights are
11:08being are being enforced and are being delivered on. And that's what is
11:13exactly regional offices have been closed. Uh and that's what members are
11:17very concerned about. Mr Raskin. Yeah, thank you. Um let me start with what I
11:22take to be the good news. First of all, Secretary McMahon met with us. My
11:27colleagues and I have signed dozens of letters requesting meetings with
11:31different cabinet secretaries. And so we wanted to express our gratitude to
11:36Secretary McMahon for meeting with us and hearing about the tremendous
11:41concerns that our constituents have all across America about what's taking
11:47place. The second bit of good news is that she reassured us multiple times
11:52that she plans to follow what federal law is. So I think that she doesn't
11:58want to end up in court being sued and struck down the way so many of the
12:02other uh departments and agencies have been struck down because they've just
12:07thrown caution to the winds and dismantled actual congressional rules
12:12and mandates that have been put in place for the people. So all of that is
12:17to the good now. Um
12:20we we have the concern that there are decades long bodies of law and
12:27precedent that have been built up in this institution to enforce the rights
12:32of families and kids all across America. Title one is a critical part of that.
12:37Title six is a critical part of that. Title nine is a critical part of that.
12:42And so the idea of dismembering the department, which we understand predates
12:48Secretary McMahon. But the idea of dismembering the department and then
12:53parceling it out to other agencies and departments does not give us a lot of
12:59confidence or hope in what's happening. And we tried to express that. I think
13:03she did express that while there is a mandate to take down the Department of
13:09Education, there's not a mandate to take down education, but we just want to
13:13make sure that that's not what's going to happen. And I think that that's the
13:16essence of the conflict here. And civil rights does become the crux of the
13:22controversy. Um, so, so much of American history has been consumed with
13:28people fighting for the right to have their kids educated without racial
13:32discrimination. That's what Brown versus Board of Education is all about.
13:36That's what so much of the Civil Rights Act is all about fighting to make sure
13:41that kids with disabilities have a right to an individualized education
13:45plan and to get the services that they need. And we don't want the second
13:50Trump administration to be the moment where all of the progress that we've
13:54made in American history towards an equal and excellent education for
13:58everybody suddenly goes down the drain. And that's why we're here. And that's
14:03why we're engaged in this dialogue with Secretary McMahon and with her staff.
14:07And we hope that we will be able to continue to have dialogue with her and
14:12make sure that education continues to improve in America rather than sink back
14:19to a time when whole parts of the population were just left out.
14:25Next question.
14:29Yes, go ahead.
14:32I know that she says she would be guided by statute. I know you're
14:36encouraged by that. But do you feel that she would have the autonomy to make
14:40important decisions or what?
14:44Again, expressing gratitude for the fact that this meeting even occurred,
14:48which I think is the first time maybe a cabinet secretary has sat down with
14:51members of Congress. So let's start with the positive. Uh, other positive.
14:55As it has been mentioned, she was very clear multiple times that she was going
14:58to respect statute and before making any dismantling decisions impact statute,
15:05she will seek the input of Congress. And of course, she has to actually seek
15:09the action of Congress as well. So that was encouraging. It could have been
15:13much, much, much worse. So leaving here now in Maryland. Thank you for being
15:18here, Jeff. We're also very concerned, as are many of my colleagues about the
15:21clawback of federal funds as her funds that impact probably everybody's
15:25districts here. We did talk about that. She expressed that she is going to be
15:30looking at those letters from our from us from Congress individually, looking
15:35at how that funding has been spent individually to ensure that it did go to
15:40addressing the learning loss that occurred across this country during
15:42Cove in. I think we all have some letters to write today, and so we're
15:46going to be continue to be action oriented as a group. Next question.
15:52Yes, but you're back there.
15:58Yeah.
16:02Yeah.
16:04Yeah.
16:06Yeah.
16:08Yeah.
16:10Yeah.
16:12Yeah.
16:14Uh, so as for the mood, I'll let grade you want to take that.
16:20Look, it was, of course, refreshing that we're able to have the meeting and
16:24learn the truth. But I and others, I think we became more and more alarmed
16:28as the meeting went on because I think the tie in amongst all this and ranking
16:33member Raskin laid it out clearly is that current law won by so many
16:38Americans in this democracy is that all kids deserve a decent education, that
16:43the money goes to your kid. If they're in need, the money goes to your kid, no
16:47matter their race or their background or their neighborhood, and they want to
16:51change that. That's what it comes down to. They might call it money going to
16:55the states or reorganization or block grants. They'll call it whatever they
16:59want to call it, but they essentially want to be able to send money to the
17:04communities they like and punish the ones they don't, just like right now
17:08they give pardons to the guys they like and prosecute the people that they
17:11don't, just like they're giving government contracts to the folks that
17:15are their donors and punishing the people that they don't. Now they're
17:18saying your kids are on the chopping block if we don't like them. That's what
17:21this comes down to. They essentially what she tried to say in the nicest of
17:27terms is that she wants to allow their get rid of the guardrails that protect
17:33all of our kids and instead say no, we can have it set up so that states can
17:37give money to the private schools that we like and take away money from the
17:41public schools that we may not like. Or we want to be able to give money to a
17:45community because they bow down to us in the culture war and take away money from
17:49a community because we want to have a fight about some social issue. And our
17:53kids, especially those that are struggling in the classroom, especially
17:57in communities that don't have enough money, especially our kids with special
18:02education needs, they shouldn't get caught up in the kind of Trump grift.
18:07But I expect what we're going to see why I think the alarm was growing as the
18:10meeting went on and on is that it feels like no matter what nice words they may
18:15put on it at the end of the day, it feels like they're going to take our
18:19kids money, this taxpayer money that's supposed to be going to our classrooms
18:22and it's going to be another payday for the people that line up and support the
18:27Trump administration while innocent students and parents and families and
18:31teachers take the hit. Thank you. Next question. Next question. Yes.
18:37I'd like
18:59so. So I think you bring up a good point about
19:02so a lot of ambiguity about when the end date and lights out that will be.
19:07That's the question. I try to drive home with her like, you know, you
19:11acknowledge before Senate confirmation hearing that Congress had to be involved.
19:15Yet you have an executive order which tells you you're supposed to begin the
19:18final mission. Uh, a lot of unsatisfactory sort of ambiguity about
19:24yes, I'm going to look at statute. I'm going to, uh, conform to statute. But
19:29yet you can end the department, uh, de facto by cutting and slashing the
19:38workforce. So the department just absolutely doesn't fulfill its
19:41functions. Does not, you know, she's not fulfilling the functions that was
19:45not explored. Melanie, you want to answer the question as well. Go ahead.
19:50Good afternoon. Melanie Stansbury from New Mexico's first congressional
19:54district. I'd love to address both this and some of the other questions. First
19:57of all, it's very apparent that the secretary is treating this is a
20:00corporate restructuring, and we want to be clear that the education of our
20:05Children is not a corporate enterprise. It is how we move this country forward.
20:09And if we are going to secure the education for millions of Americans, we
20:13need this department to function. And while they may acknowledge and while
20:18the secretary may have acknowledged in this meeting that she has statutory
20:21requirements, they are de facto dismantling the agency. And I think to
20:27your point, it's very clear that the riffs, the firing of probationary
20:33staff, the so called restructuring that's happening. When we asked for a
20:39plan multiple times in this meeting, we were told there is not a plan yet. And
20:44so our question is, if there's not a plan, then why are you firing thousands
20:48of people? How are you going to ensure that our states are compliant with the
20:52civil rights requirements? How are you going to ensure that students with
20:56disabilities are going to get the accommodations? How are you going to
20:59ensure that in states where there is not the infrastructure and the people to
21:04administer these programs that they will be able to administer them and they do
21:08not have a plan? So they are de facto restructuring this entity along a
21:15corporate model without a plan and without an effort to really protect our
21:19students. So we want to be clear about that. I want to say one other thing. The
21:23mood in the room, it was very collegial. We are extraordinarily grateful to the
21:28secretary that she joined us. Thank you. She's here. Perhaps I should give her
21:32the podium. Yeah, we're extraordinarily grateful that the secretary gave us the
21:39space to have these conversations. But with all due respect, madam, I think my
21:45biggest concern is that the states will not be able to protect the programs and
21:48services that you would like to devolve with them.
21:55Morning, everyone. Thanks so much for coming. And I just want to express my
21:59gratitude to all of these folks who came today so that we could have an open
22:03discussion about what I believe is one of the most important things that we can
22:08have a discussion on or action on in our country. And that is the education of
22:12our young people. Uh, as Representative Tanaka said, as we were ending the
22:17meeting, which I thought was incredibly appropriate, and that is that this is
22:21not a partisan issue. This is about the Children of America, and it's the next
22:26generation, the generation after that. And if we want to have our leaders, if
22:30we want to have that next group of engineers and doctors and lawyers and
22:35plumbers and electrician and HVAC operators, then we need to focus on how
22:41they can best have their education. And I believe, and I know the president
22:45does believe this as well. The best education is that that is closest to
22:49the child, where teachers and parents, local superintendents working together
22:55and local school boards to develop the curriculum for those students is the
23:00best way that it can happen. Funding from the United States government will
23:04continue through the programs that is that have already been established, and
23:08I will look forward to continuing to work with members of Congress on both
23:12sides of the aisle. And I welcome the fact that these folks came today and
23:16expressed their concerns and shared in an open collegial format their concerns
23:22and how we can lead now to work more together. That's the way it ought to
23:25operate, and I'm very happy to have had them here. So I'm gonna I'm gonna let
23:30them answer the questions. I just wanted to come out and have no question. When
23:34are you going to shut down this building? Well, we've had our
23:36discussions already, so thank you all very, very much for coming.
23:44As you see, she's not answering the question when she's gonna shut down the
23:48Department of Education. She doesn't have a plan, and while she doesn't have
23:52a plan, they're continuing to look at firing people, reduction in rifts,
23:57reduction in force, maybe, you know, doing it with a velvet glove, but still
24:04has the effect of an iron fist. Manly, the Department of this man, that's
24:08milling. So you just saw that she didn't answer the question. Yes.
24:21Well, she has agreed. There was there was like 75 79 the signatories to the
24:26letter that I helped to lead. Uh, there, uh, she has agreed to meet with
24:32additional groups. This is the first tranche of members. First tranche
24:36members. Somehow, Miss Federica got a separate meeting with the secretary. I
24:40don't know how you did it. Uh, any any discrepancies you want to mention? Uh,
24:44any clarity you got from that separate meeting? I think my concern was about
24:51HBC use and, uh, minority serving institutions and what was going to
24:58happen with those institutions if the Department of Education no longer
25:04exists because you can't really transfer that to states. And I also
25:10had concern about the Office of Civil Rights within the Department of
25:14Education and how was that going to function in an oversight capacity to
25:21make sure that there was no discrimination as it related to the
25:25Children who attend our public education, uh, who are serviced because
25:33charter schools and private schools have the ability to turn Children away.
25:39Public schools were built to educate everyone. The gifted, the ungovernable,
25:47uh, Children in wheelchairs, Children who are poor Children who are rich. So
25:54it's for everyone. And I am concerned that when you begin to take the federal
26:01oversight a way and put it in the hands of states, we have read states who
26:10don't want public education to exist. And this is my fear as a former
26:18principal of a school, uh, a member of a school board and a district
26:26administrator. I know and I have a crystal ball and I know what will
26:32happen if they dismantle the entire Department of Education. And this is
26:39something you keep saying a due date when it's gonna happen. This is not
26:44something that you can just do. It requires a plan. It requires people who
26:53understand the impact that all of these departments make. And you're not
27:01gonna. It's not a simple chore and it's gonna take several years and
27:06hopefully by then we'll have a new administration in it. But Mr Ross is
27:12gonna answer the question on courts. And we have a question over here. Um,
27:16so the federal courts have been very emphatic that the basic rules of the
27:22civil service cannot be dismantled for some other agenda. For example, tens of
27:28thousands of federal employees have lost their jobs simply because they
27:31were in the probationary category. They were probationary employees, not
27:35because they had done anything wrong, but because they either had just been
27:39hired recently or they'd been promoted because they had performed in an
27:43excellent way in their prior jobs. The courts have struck that down and
27:46restored those people, although shamefully in some federal departments
27:50they're saying that they will pay those people, but they won't allow them to
27:54work. But in any event, that is not a way around the civil service. Another
27:58way around the civil service that doesn't work is to simply describe
28:02someone as a D. E. I. Hire or a D. E. I. Employee. That is not a federal
28:08category by which anybody gets hired. And so, um, that that has also been a
28:16way to try to circumvent the rules of the civil service. But the courts have
28:20said no. Under the civil service, people can only be hired for their own poor
28:25performance or professional misconduct. And unfortunately, we've been seeing
28:29thousands of federal workers who have excellent, uh, performance evaluations
28:35who have been fired. So I don't know what's taking place, uh, in the last
28:39several days at the Department of Education, and we're gonna have to look
28:42into that. And obviously, um, the workers and if they have representation,
28:48those people will be focused on that. But, um, you know, the the forces that
28:54are saying that this is being done in a lawless way are winning in court every
28:58day. Um, so, uh, in terms of programs, um, obviously, Congress adopted a lot
29:07of the programs we're talking about, like college student loans or like
29:11title six or title one, contemplating that they would be part of the
29:15Department of Education. And so to the extent that they're being stripped and
29:20relocated other parts of the federal government that would have to conform to
29:25federal statute. And it may or it may not. We don't really understand what
29:29the policy purpose is. And a lot of people fear that it is a part of a
29:34program to dismantle not just the Department of Education, but the federal
29:38commitment to education. So we're going to be zealously watching that to make
29:43sure that those programs that the Congress, the United States, the
29:47people's representatives have adopted are effectuated by this department or
29:53some other department. We're going to make sure, for example, as Congresswoman
29:57Wilson says, that the civil rights commitments that we've adopted are
30:02secure, and we're just afraid that they want to replace the civil rights
30:08commitment of the federal government with a war on D. I. And those two
30:12things don't fit together.
30:18So just very quickly, just because I think she's asking a very specific
30:22question, the court orders that have been put in place requiring the
30:25rehiring of probationary staff stand just because they acknowledge that the
30:30law exists doesn't mean that they're not breaking it. And the courts have
30:33been very clear about that. The court orders that have been put in place over
30:37the last several weeks regarding personnel here at the Department of
30:40Education must be followed. And I think to the question that was asked, Are
30:44they following the law? The courts have already weighed in. No, they are not.
30:48And I'll just say, you know, it was in my committee where I got, uh, uh, an
30:55employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs to actually admit that Tracy
31:01third that she even though she signed the memorandum that fired all of
31:05memorandum that fired all of the members of the Department of Veterans
31:10Affairs staffing, uh, Judge also, uh, ruled with that testimony in mind, uh,
31:18that, uh, that the memo she signed actually came from, uh, the Office of
31:23Personnel O. P. M. Office of Personal Management and said, you know, the
31:27Office of Postal Management cannot direct other departments and agencies
31:31to fire people. And therefore, those probationary employees that were fired
31:35authority had to be reinstated. Uh, they are dragging their feet. Um, I know of
31:40employees that have been reinstated. Other employees that are being paid, uh,
31:45but are not allowed to work. Uh, and so there's a very passive, aggressive
31:49resistance by this administration. Any more questions over here? Uh, you
31:53haven't asked a question. Go ahead.
31:55Um,
32:06what service? Well, look, students with disabilities that that is a concern we
32:12raised specifically in off relates to the Office of Civil Rights. How is that
32:16going to be? How is this function going to be fulfilled? Uh, if you're going to
32:21move agents, move the function around once she acknowledged that she was
32:25checking into the law about it. But here's the thing. You just saw me ask
32:29her the question. When are you going to shut this department down? The
32:32executive order issued by the president directs her to begin the process of
32:37doing that. Uh, she doesn't have an answer to when this department is
32:41going to shut down. I think part of the story of today is, you know,
32:45President's campaign promise to shut this department down, uh, is a lot of
32:50fluff. Um, it's he can't. It's illegal. He can't do it by law. She's
32:55acknowledged so much that, you know, that they're that there's a law that
32:58that that she can't. She's having her lawyers examine how she can move
33:03functions around, and she really didn't answer the question about when she's
33:06shutting this department down. But in the meantime, in the meantime, I'm
33:11afraid that all these firings at OCR, the Office of Civil Rights, means that
33:19students with disabilities, students are facing discrimination because of
33:24anti semitism or Islamophobia. Students are facing discrimination based on race
33:28or gender or sexual orientation aren't going to have, uh, a the Office of
33:34Civil Rights able to enforce their rights against discrimination against
33:38districts around this country. And I know that the plan that they have for
33:42title one is this. They plan to block grant title one to states for 10 years.
33:51And then after 10 years,
33:55hope they're hoping that within 10 years they will have Congress to
34:01dismantle title one. But title one is not gonna go away, but it's gonna be in
34:08a form of a black block grant to a state and red states
34:14where we have Children that we're concerned about. That's the worry.
34:19That's the panic.
34:22Yes, one more.
34:23What's your message to the employees of Department of Education that are still
34:27working every day?
34:34Well, I think all federal employees, there are federal employees who were
34:39contemplating accepting, you know, the bonus to go away. Um, but I believe
34:46there are many federal employees who believe it's their duty and their job,
34:50uh, to protect the students of this country. Uh, there are people in other
34:54departments in the federal government, uh, who understand the role of the
34:59civil service. Uh, an independent civil service of a meritorious a civil
35:05service, civil service established by merit and not by spoils under the
35:10administration of Chester Arthur in the 18 eighties and several bills
35:15subsequent to that were passed to reform the civil service. We don't
35:20want a spoils system in our government. We don't want a reward your friends
35:26punish your enemies, hire a bunch of your people that are your followers in
35:31the federal government. That's what the civil service is about. Uh, and to
35:35destroy that civil services to destroy, uh, the, uh, the evolved nature of our
35:41democracy, the evolved nature of, uh, the freedom that we enjoy to not have
35:47the civil service turned into a spoiled system. Uh, and, uh, the instrument of
35:54an autocratic leader to get his will done. So I would say to those people in
35:59the Department of Education, stand your ground, stand your ground. Uh, don't
36:05give in.
36:06You obey your oath that you swore to, which is to the Constitution and the
36:11laws of our country.
36:14Miss Warren, would you go ahead? I just want to say this. Just keep in mind
36:19where all of this originated from. This came from florida.
36:25This whole Department of Education closure came from the moms of liberty
36:33who would show up at school board meetings across florida demanding that
36:40books be banned, that their Children, their little boys were being turned
36:45into girls, that LBGTQ plus Children should not be in our schools, that we
36:54were turning little boys into girls. All of this came about from florida.
37:02And as it became popular, President trump adopted it and he started saying,
37:09well, why do all of this emanates from the Department of Education? So why do
37:15we need a Department of Education? Let these bombs of liberty, right? Our
37:21curriculum. Let these bombs of liberty tell us how to educate our Children.
37:28Let these moms of liberty tell us that you should not teach black history,
37:36that you should wipe the pages clean. Remember now, this is a conversation
37:41that's been going on for about 12 years during President trump's first term.
37:49Just keep that in mind. Okay, there's more.
37:51One final question.
37:54Thank you. I'm clean up woman Gwen Moore from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
37:59Just let me say to a question that wasn't answered with regard to what
38:04will happen to student loans. The secretary said that she had talked to
38:09the Treasury secretary so that they were going to turn that over to the
38:14Treasury or to commerce with a focus on collecting uh debt. That was the
38:22focus. I don't know about the administration of future loans. I also
38:27want to uh address questions that have, you know, about devolution. Uh we asked
38:36many questions about how you can, you can devolve monies to the state.
38:41However you do that block granted whatever. But how can you devolve the
38:48responsibilities and the authorities under the civil rights acts uh two
38:54states and we pointed out that there would be partisan governors who would
39:00receive um these this devolution and and as many people have pointed out
39:06already that they would discriminate against certain communities and would
39:11be allowed to do it. In fact the title one title six title nine were all put
39:19into place. The history of that is that uh people particularly black kids could
39:27not get justice on the local level and we find that that is still true. What
39:32would I say to the employees who are there? I would commend to them the
39:36words of of john lewis. Don't give up, don't give out, don't get it given. I
39:43would also commend to them the words of Tim Schneider who's written a lot of
39:49books and one I would quote from on tyranny chapter one and that is don't
39:56surrender in advance. Just like you've heard from all these leaders, these the
40:01Department of Education is a statutory, it's a law put in place by title one
40:08title one of the constitution. Uh and it will remain there until we decide that
40:15it should not exist. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you
40:19Gwen Moore.