Mandates, masks, and mayhem: Never again!



Five years ago this month, the government effectively declared martial law. In doing so, it made what may be the worst decision of our lifetime — crushing civil liberties, wrecking the economy, and causing untold deaths through mismanagement of the virus and widespread use of a dangerous vaccine.

We continue to suffer the economic and health consequences of those decisions. Meanwhile, at both the federal level and in many states, lawmakers have failed to address the core liberty issue: preventing those powers from ever being used again.

It took just three years after the Civil War to ratify the 14th Amendment. Yet five years after COVID-era abuses, no comparable protections have passed at the federal level.

After the civil rights abuses that helped spark the Civil War, the country passed sweeping constitutional amendments to protect basic freedoms. Yet Congress has taken no such action after the COVID catastrophe. The same goes for many red states, which have done little over the past five years.

Still, it’s never too late to do the right thing. The following checklist outlines what Congress and state legislatures — especially those with Republican majorities — must do to fix it.

End biomedical tyranny

The COVID-19 era revealed a dangerous truth: It is neither scientifically sound, morally justified, nor constitutionally acceptable to force one person to undergo a medical intervention for the sake of another. Congress and state legislatures must act immediately to codify the following protections:

  • No mandates: No federal or state agency should ever require individuals to use a therapeutic, vaccine, prophylactic, or medical device.
  • No limitless emergencies: A president or governor may not declare a public health emergency lasting more than 30 days unless both legislative chambers approve an extension by a supermajority.
  • No lockdowns: Except for narrowly targeted, short-term quarantines of individuals exposed to deadly, quarantinable diseases like Ebola, the federal government must not restrict individual or property rights under the guise of pandemic control.
  • No masks: Outside surgical or clinical settings, no federal or state government should compel individuals to cover their faces as a condition of participating in public life.

These protections must be enacted at the federal level. While several Republican-led states have passed laws addressing parts of the issue, few have permanently banned public and private vaccine or mask mandates in all settings.

Additionally, county health directors should not have the authority to declare emergencies with criminal or civil penalties unless the county’s legislative body explicitly approves it. Even during such declarations, constitutional rights — such as the right to worship — must remain fully protected.

No experimentation without representation

Ban all mRNA shots: Except for terminally ill cancer patients, mRNA technology should not be used. Data now shows that mRNA does not stay localized, contains DNA contamination, and causes widespread inflammation. After five years of studies and real-world outcomes, mRNA technology has surpassed the threshold that would normally prompt the FDA to pull a product from the market. States should either ban its use or at minimum prohibit state agencies from promoting it.

Repeal the 2004 PREP Act: The Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act shields all public health “countermeasures” from liability, including vaccines, therapeutics, and testing tools used during emergencies. Even cases involving willful misconduct can only be brought by the federal government. Congress must repeal this law and restore accountability.

Repeal the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act: This law exempts all vaccines on the childhood immunization schedule from liability. Congress should repeal it to restore legal recourse for vaccine injuries.

End marketing of emergency-use products: Any product approved only for emergency use should not receive government-backed promotion or special status. These products should be treated solely as private medical decisions between doctors and patients.

Restore informed consent

The FDA and state governments must not mandate or promote new vaccines or biologic products unless they undergo proper safety evaluation. No product should receive approval without long-term, placebo-controlled trials that test for:

  • Allergenicity — potential to cause allergic reactions
  • Carcinogenicity — potential to cause cancer
  • Fertility impact — effects on reproductive health
  • Immunogenicity — ability to generate an immune response
  • Genotoxicity — potential to damage genes or cause mutations

Approval should require evidence of reduced all-cause mortality over time. No vaccine should gain approval if trial data shows more deaths in the vaccinated group than in the placebo group.

Regulators must not approve vaccines for one age group while ignoring safety concerns in another, unless they can clearly demonstrate that risks do not apply to the targeted population. For example, after acknowledging that RSV shots caused Guillain-Barré syndrome and walking back its recommendation for people over 60, the FDA continued to promote the shots for those over 75.

Additional protections should include:

  • Banning self-spreading viruses and biologics.
  • Criminalizing the release of any pathogen, including self-spreading vaccines, and allow individuals to sue those responsible.
  • Prohibiting the placement of vaccine-related materials in the food supply.

Congress should also establish a commission to audit the childhood immunization schedule and review new vaccines in the development pipeline. This includes a full review of their necessity, safety data, and efficacy. Enlightened consent must serve as the foundation for informed consent.

The right to treat

Congress must prohibit the FDA from blocking doctors from prescribing fully approved drugs for off-label use.

All pandemic or emergency public health funding for hospitals must remain treatment-neutral. Funding should not favor one therapy over another. Clinicians — not federal agencies or pharmaceutical companies — should guide treatment decisions based on best practices, not profit motives.

Given ivermectin’s broad-spectrum antiviral properties and well-documented safety profile, it should be made available over the counter. Arkansas has taken the lead in adopting this approach.

Protect doctor-patient autonomy

Doctors must not face penalties — such as loss of their licenses or board certifications — for expressing dissenting views on vaccines or mask mandates. State medical boards must overhaul their complaint processes to focus only on cases with actual patient harm.

Boards should accept complaints only from:

  • Patients alleging direct injury
  • Immediate family of deceased patients
  • Medical professionals with firsthand knowledge of patient harm

All complaints unrelated to patient injury should be dismissed without review.

The Trump administration should direct the Department of Justice to drop all prosecutions against physicians charged with so-called “COVID crimes.” These include cases like that of Utah plastic surgeon Dr. Kirk Moore, who faces federal charges for allegedly providing vaccine exemptions and other patient-centered actions taken during the pandemic.

Adopt a new ‘Patient’s Bill of Rights’

Some states have taken steps in the right direction, but stronger civil and criminal penalties must be in place to protect patient rights across the country. Every hospital and senior care facility should be legally required to:

  • Prohibit denial of treatment, including organ transplants, based on vaccination status.
  • Allow at least one surrogate or visitor to be present for patients in hospitals or nursing homes.
  • Permit patients to use FDA-approved drugs off-label, prescribed by a licensed physician, at their own expense and with informed consent.
  • Guarantee the right to refuse any hospital-prescribed treatment and the right to leave the facility if the patient is mentally competent — effectively banning medical kidnapping.
  • Provide patients or their families a legal cause of action to file civil suits against facilities that violate these rights. District attorneys should also have the authority to pursue criminal charges when appropriate.
  • Revoke state tax-exempt status for hospitals found in violation of these provisions.

It took just three years after the Civil War to ratify the 14th Amendment. Congress codified its principles into law within a year of Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. Yet five years after COVID-era abuses, no comparable protections have passed at the federal level, and only a few states have enacted partial reforms. That needs to change. The time to act is now.

Jasmine Crockett admits she's not focused on lawmaking; recommends violence against Ted Cruz



The Democratic Party is setting all-time records with its unpopularity. According to a recent NBC News survey, only 27% of voters have a positive view of the party.

Rather than deliver legislative victories to improve upon this embarrassing statistic, some Democrats instead appear committed both to engaging in violent rhetoric and preventing President Donald Trump from delivering on his promises to the American public.

Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett made clear in a recent interview that she is one such Democrat.

Since rolling up to Congress in 2023, Crockett has introduced a few bills and partisan resolutions, including a bill that would direct the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to launch a pro-abortion propaganda campaign; a bill designating the month of August as "National Black Business Month"; and a bill ensuring that convicted criminals can vote nationwide.

KXAS-TV's Phil Prazan asked Crockett in an interview released Sunday whether she was trying to pass any legislation in the 119th Congress.

"'Trying to pass.' Uh, no," said Crockett. "You know, I should probably be a better politician and tell you, 'Yes, we've got all this amazing legislation that I can absolutely imagine Donald Trump signing into law.' I'm just not gonna lie."

'We've gotta get comfortable with letting our hair down a little bit.'

"I think that right now it is about preserving our basics and getting back some of the norms — the norms that make sure that people have food on the table; the norms that make sure that people aren't going through any extra layer of stress when it comes to figuring out education for their kids," continued Crockett. "So right now, I can tell you that, unfortunately, I am not working towards very much that I would consider being the progress train. I am working to make sure that I can minimize the regress train."

If Crockett's recent conduct and commentary serve as any indication, then the minimization of the "regress train" involves publicly rooting for foreign nations engaged in trade disputes with the U.S.; telling radicals that Elon Musk must be "taken down" amid firebombs; characterizing Republican voters as stupid; issuing racist remarks; mocking the handicapped; and dubbing the commander in chief "an enemy to the United States."

During the interview, Gromer Jeffers from the Dallas Morning News asked Crockett how she plans to "resist Trump's policies."

"The reality is that we're dealing with an administration that is lawless and disrespectful," said Crockett. "The idea that we're still going to be nice and friendly and kind and try to look for some sense of normalcy when we are literally living in a time that is anything but normal, I think that we've gotta get comfortable with letting our hair down a little bit."

"We clearly play ourselves by being like these, like, do-gooders, right," said the congresswoman. "It just needs to be clear that we're not weak. And I don't know that anybody believes that we're not weak."

Apparently desperate to make clear that she is neither friendly nor a do-gooder, Crockett appeared to advocate for violence against at least one Republican lawmaker.

When asked about how to win an election in Texas, Crockett said, "You punch. I think you punch. I think you're OK with — you OK with punching."

Crockett then referenced failed Colin Allred's electoral defeat last year by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and suggested the Democrat should have been more combative with his Republican opponent, saying, "I mean, like, this dude [Cruz] has to be knocked over the head, like, hard, right. Like, there is no niceties with him — like, at all. Like, you go clean off on him."

While Crockett's violent rhetoric was likely enough to confirm for critics her commitment to unfriendliness as a hands-off legislator, her mockery of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) in a speech Saturday at a LGBT activist event in Los Angeles — calling him "Governor Hot Wheels" on account of his wheelchair — helped seal the deal.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) stated, "Jasmine Crockett is despicable."

Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R) noted, "FYI to the new spokeswoman for the Democrat party— @GregAbbott_TX became paralyzed after a huge oak tree fell on him, crushing his spine. But sure, go with 'hot wheels.'"

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Kiss Goodbye To The GOP House Majority If Susan Crawford Wins Wisconsin’s Supreme Court Race

Democrats supporters see her election as a way to gerrymander away two Republican congressional seats and abort Trump's agenda.

House GOP insists on Senate cooperation as reconciliation talks resume: 'We must act'



House Republican leadership members are applying pressure on the Senate GOP to take up their reconciliation budget blueprint as negotiations resume on Capitol Hill.

While both the Senate and the House passed their respective budget resolutions, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) are set to meet Tuesday to discuss a path forward. House Republicans are set on advancing their "big, beautiful bill," which President Donald Trump has endorsed, and they're putting the Senate on notice.

'We encourage our Senate colleagues to take up the House budget resolution when they return to Washington.'

"The House is determined to send the president one big, beautiful bill that secures our border, keeps taxes low for families and job creators, grows our economy, restores American energy dominance, brings back peace through strength, and makes government more efficient and more accountable to the American people," the statement reads.

"We took the first step to accomplish that by passing a budget resolution weeks ago, and we look forward to the Senate joining us in this commitment to ensure we enact President Trump's full agenda as quickly as possible," the statement continued. "The American people gave us a mandate, and we must act on it."

Despite the public push for the House resolution, Republican leadership remains divided on the competing blueprints. While the GOP is still hammering out the fine print on issues like tax policy and budget cuts, House Republicans insist that their version will be the best option to implement Trump's agenda.

"We encourage our Senate colleagues to take up the House budget resolution when they return to Washington," the statement reads. "This is our opportunity to deliver what will be one of the most consequential pieces of legislation in the history of our nation. Working together, we will get it done."

Congress has about two weeks to make progress on reconciliation talks if Republicans want to pass a final budget by April 7, an ambitious goal set by Johnson. Although Congress typically operates at a glacial pace, negotiations are set to resume Tuesday.

Some Republicans, like Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, are less optimistic than the leadership.

“Probably what we are going to do is talk each other to death, stare at each other, and then eventually, you know, confuse the issue so much that it takes two months to unravel what we agree to,” Paul said.

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Former GOP congresswoman and 'trailblazer' dies at 49



Former Republican Rep. Mia Love of Utah passed away on Sunday at the age of 49 after battling cancer.

Love's family said in a statement that she passed away in her home surrounded by her family. Love was initially diagnosed with brain cancer in 2022.

'She was a trailblazer, a faithful servant, bright light in so many lives, and a dear friend.'

"With grateful hearts filled to overflowing for the profound influence of Mia on our lives, we want you to know that she passed away peacefully today," the statement reads. "She was in her home surrounded by family. In the midst of a celebration of her life and an avalanche of happy memories, Mia quietly slipped the bands of mortality and, as her words and vision always did, soared heavenward. We are thankful for the many good wishes, prayers and condolences."

Love was remembered fondly by her fellow Utahans as a "bright light" and a "trailblazer."

"I’m heartbroken to hear of Mia’s passing," Republican Rep. Burgess Owens of Utah said in a statement. "She was a trailblazer, a faithful servant, bright light in so many lives, and a dear friend. Our Utah communities mourn with the Love family, and we pray that they find peace in Heavenly Father’s love and comfort, and in the love Mia brought to all."

"Mia Love helped blaze the trail that I now walk," Republican Rep. Celeste Maloy of Utah said in a statement. "She served with grace and inspired many with her conviction that the American dream is alive and well. Our state and our country are better because of her. My deepest condolences to the Love family."

Love was a first-generation American whose parents immigrated from Haiti to Brooklyn in the 1970s. She later planted roots in Utah and embarked on her career in public service, leading her to become the first black Republican woman to be elected to Congress. Love served in the House of Representatives from 2014 to 2018.

"Katrina and I extend our heartfelt prayers and condolences to the Love family," Republican Rep. Mike Kennedy of Utah said in a statement. "Mia was a steadfast believer in the promise of America. I vividly remember her sharing how her parents came to our country with just $10 and a belief in the American dream—a dream she brought to life through her deep love for family, her dedicated public service, and her unwavering commitment to Utah and our nation."

"Members of Congress are mourning the passing of Mia Love, who was a trusted friend and colleague, an extraordinary person, and an exceptional leader," Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said in a statement. "She will always be remembered for her warm smile and wit, and her historic contributions. God bless her family and her legacy. Our prayers are with you all."

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The Postal Service is bleeding cash, but the DOGE can stop the hemorrhaging



The Department of Government Efficiency is teaming up with the U.S. Postal Service, and it’s a good thing. Last week, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told Congress he had reached an agreement with the DOGE to root out inefficiencies and help the service address “big problems” — most of which are financial. As an initial cost-cutting gesture, the USPS is reducing its workforce by 10,000 through a voluntary early retirement program.

The DOGE certainly has its work cut out for it. The USPS lost an astounding $9.5 billion in fiscal year 2024 and is projected to lose an additional $60 billion to $70 billion by 2030. However, most of this spending is wasteful — not essential — which positions the service, through proper reforms, to recover and once again deliver for taxpayers and consumers.

Small cuts, combined with more significant reforms, add up. It’s time for the DOGE to start trimming the fat.

One place to start is the service’s electric vehicle purchases. The USPS is eager to replace most of its aging fleet of more than 200,000 mail trucks, which, according to the latest iteration of a 2021 deal with supplier Oshkosh Corp., will cost nearly $10 billion for a fleet of roughly 100,000 vehicles, including 66,000 EVs.

Going back to gas

This agreement is a financial disaster. EV deliveries are already behind schedule, and according to DeJoy, taxpayers and consumers are paying anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000 more per EV than for their gas-powered counterparts — and even that may be an underestimate.

In 2022, Congress appropriated for the USPS $3 billion in taxpayer dollars for EV purchases, including $1.29 billion for vehicles and $1.71 billion for charging infrastructure.

When factoring in this one-time subsidy and the Postal Service’s own investment, switching to an all-gas fleet could save nearly $1 billion annually over the next decade. Fortunately, Oshkosh appears open to renegotiating the contract.

If Oshkosh doesn’t play ball, however, lawmakers may step in. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas) have introduced the “Return to Sender Act” to recoup taxpayer money wasted on these EV purchases.

Ending Saturday mail deliveries is another straightforward way to cut costs. The USPS currently delivers mail Monday through Saturday, with some packages delivered on Sundays. Shifting to a five-day delivery schedule could reduce costs and improve worker morale. The USPS itself proposed this change in its 2013 “Five-Year Business Plan,” estimating savings of $1.9 billion per year — roughly $2.6 billion today after adjusting for inflation — amounting to about one-third of the service’s average annual losses in recent years.

USPS makes … television?

Beyond these major cuts, the USPS continues to waste money in baffling ways.

The service has ventured into television production, premiering a show called “Dear Santa, The Series” in 2022. This isn’t even its first attempt at TV. The USPS also produced “The Inspectors,” a show that struggled with mediocre ratings. While the costs of these productions remain unclear, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance Foundation plans to file Freedom of Information Act requests to uncover the figures.

TPAF will also investigate the USPS’ suspicious — and increasingly bleeding — check-cashing and money-order operations in addition to the agency’s public relations spending on gratuitous programs like its thin-skinned responses to op-eds and an official podcast.

Small cuts, combined with more significant reforms, add up. In all, the USPS can save more than $7 billion per year with a few common-sense spending cuts. It’s time for the DOGE to start trimming the fat.

Progressives rally as pressure mounts to primary Schumer



Progressive lawmakers have hit the ground running, with Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York rallying alongside independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont in the swing state of Nevada. However, their efforts are being overshadowed by the most recent shutdown showdown, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is feeling the heat.

Ever since President Donald Trump took office, Democrats have worked overtime to make the DOGE and Elon Musk the focal point of their political attacks.

Most recently, Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders held a joint rally in Nevada Thursday to "fight oligarchy," a sentiment that was embraced by onlookers. Coupled with the base's desire for a progressive party were calls to primary Schumer and shed old-guard Democrats.

The Democratic Party has lacked a political compass since its overwhelming defeat in November.

"Primary Chuck!" supporters shouted.

Schumer has caught a lot of heat over the last week after he caved and voted to advance a Republican-led continuing resolution after initially signaling that he was in favor of a shutdown. As a result of this reversal, several prominent Democrats like former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) disavowed the move.

While Schumer has embarked on a media tour to mitigate the damage, the Democratic base has made calls for new representation.

“We need a Democratic Party that fights harder for us too,” Ocasio-Cortez said at the rally. She also encouraged the crowd to vote for "brawlers," who she said "are the ones who can actually win against Republicans."

To her point, the Democratic Party has lacked a political compass since its overwhelming defeat in November.

Since then, the Democratic identity has diminished and the party has fractured, leading to irreconcilable differences between lawmakers like Schumer and Sanders, and it's these very differences that may cost them elections in the future.

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GOP sellouts fight to keep Biden’s Green New Deal cash flowing



The American people overwhelmingly rejected Joe Biden’s presidency. His signature legislative agenda, the Green New Deal, subsidizes inefficient energy sources while driving up costs for affordable, reliable alternatives. This policy enriches a select few at the expense of taxpayers, who essentially fund their own economic suicide. Unfortunately, a group of lukewarm Republicans — whose donors profit from these terrible subsidies — are working to keep them in place.

The Green New Deal should be the first target for repeal through budget reconciliation. Since Republicans hesitate to cut individual welfare programs, eliminating corporate welfare for the most expensive energy scheme in U.S. history is the obvious alternative — especially since it passed through reconciliation in the first place.

Trump should make it clear to Republicans: Undoing Biden’s presidency requires fully dismantling his signature legislative achievement. The green grift must end.

Yet a group of 21 House Republicans, likely backed by others unwilling to go on record, now oppose rolling back these subsidies. Because of course they do.

Without directly mentioning Biden, the legislation, or the fact that these credits amount to corporate welfare rather than “tax incentives,” these Republicans urged Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) to take a “targeted and pragmatic” approach to tax code changes.

“Countless American companies are utilizing sector-wide energy tax credits — many of which have enjoyed broad congressional support — to invest in domestic energy production and infrastructure for both traditional and renewable sources,” wrote the 21 House members, led by Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), in a March 9 letter. “Both our constituencies and the energy industry remain concerned about disruptive changes to the nation’s energy tax structure. Many of these credits were enacted over a ten-year period, allowing energy developers to plan with these incentives in mind.”

In simpler terms, they want to preserve massive subsidies for solar, wind, electric vehicles, and “carbon capture,” which could cost up to $1.2 trillion. Knowing these terms carry negative connotations for Trump voters and the president himself, they instead framed their request as support for “energy production,” as if referring to oil, gas, and coal.

“To meet President Trump’s campaign promises of reviving manufacturing and strengthening domestic energy production, we need an all-of-the-above approach,” Garbarino said in an interview. “These credits have helped make that happen.”

An unbalanced strategy

Unlike natural energy sources, which do not rely on government subsidies to serve consumers, solar and wind power cannot survive without them — an admission the industry itself has made. These industries require constant government support while policymakers simultaneously impose burdens on fossil fuels, forcing businesses to adopt unreliable alternatives.

Wind power, in particular, depends on a factor entirely beyond human control — the wind itself. Texas poured billions into subsidizing wind energy and made its grid increasingly reliant on it, only for it to fail when it was needed most during the Great Texas Freeze of 2021. This year, Texas grid operators had to postpone maintenance on power plants to generate more coal and natural gas after wind production dropped by 18% due to low wind conditions in February.

In short, the so-called “all-of-the-above” energy approach is not a balanced strategy. Fossil fuels repeatedly bail out wind and solar when they fall short — but never the other way around.

Far from free money

The push for unreliable energy schemes has become so indefensible that the industry is now shifting its messaging. Instead of emphasizing climate change, it now frames itself as a driver of job creation. In December, Reuters reported that the solar industry had rebranded its pitch to the Trump administration, promoting itself as a “domestic jobs engine that can help meet soaring power demand” while avoiding any mention of climate change.

This strategy aims to lure more Republicans into supporting green energy subsidies. Given the geographic distribution of these projects, about 80% of the subsidies tied to the Green New Deal scam have gone to Republican congressional districts.

But these subsidies are far from free money. Funding them requires taking on more debt, driving inflation, while backing energy schemes that are impractical, environmentally questionable, and a poor use of land.

Climate fascism continues to be a loser for Democrats. In a recent poll, 84% of respondents said the cost of living and inflation mattered more than addressing climate change. This is a winning issue for Republicans — but only if Trump takes a hard stance against RINOs who enable these subsidies.

Courts have already blocked his efforts to terminate them through executive action, meaning only Congress can fully repeal them. Trump should make it clear to Republicans: Undoing Biden’s presidency requires fully dismantling his signature legislative achievement. The green grift must end.

The Education Dept. is a failure, and Trump is right to shut it down



For decades, the Department of Education has existed as a bloated, useless agency whose only real function has been to funnel money into the pockets of teachers’ unions, fund radical leftist social experiments at universities, and ensure that American children graduate high school barely able to read or do basic math. Now, President Trump is finally doing what should have been done long ago and shutting it down.

Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to close the department as soon as it's feasible, with the consent of Congress. This step is necessary to address the ongoing collapse of American education and our declining international standing.

Trump’s plan to dismantle the Education Department isn’t just sound policy — it’s essential for saving the next generation of Americans.

Standardized test scores have plummeted not just for years, but for decades. The latest National Assessment of Educational Progress results show that U.S. students’ math and reading scores have taken a sharp dive since 2020. In cities like Chicago and Baltimore, nearly 80% of students fail to reach proficiency in core subjects.

Many students leave school unable to read or do basic arithmetic, yet they can recite pronouns and explain why America is supposedly systemically racist. The Department of Education has prioritized ideology over academics for years. Shutting it down is the first step toward real reform.

Teachers’ unions will lose big

The Department of Education controls billions in taxpayer dollars — $80 billion in 2024 alone — but instead of improving literacy or ensuring that schools hire competent teachers, it pours money into DEI programs, bloated bureaucracy, and unnecessary administrative positions.

The people making decisions in this agency are not educators; they are political activists. While rural and inner-city schools struggle with crumbling infrastructure and a lack of basic supplies, the department prioritizes funding for transgender bathroom policies and “anti-racist” curriculum mandates.

The real beneficiaries of this system are the teachers’ unions. These unions collect billions in dues, protect bad teachers from being fired, and fought to keep schools closed during COVID while their leadership vacationed. The Department of Education exists not to serve students, but to shield and enrich these unions.

When Democrats claim abolishing the DOE will “harm students,” they really mean it will harm their campaign donations. The education system functions as a financial pipeline between the government and the unions: The government funds the DOE, the DOE directs money to the unions, and the unions take their cut before funneling it back into Democratic political campaigns.

The numbers are clear — campaign finance reports reveal that politicians like Rep. Nancy Pelosi (R-Calif.), former Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) rake in union cash while claiming to champion the middle class. In reality, they are enabling the destruction of America’s education system.

Leftists are panicking over Trump’s move because they prioritize control over education, not the well-being of students. If they cared about children, they wouldn’t have allowed generations to graduate functionally illiterate. They wouldn’t fight to keep students trapped in failing schools while blocking every attempt at school choice. Their goal is to maintain control, keep taxpayer dollars flowing, and produce generations just smart enough to pass standardized tests — but not smart enough to question the system.

Generations of failure

Standardized testing is another disaster created by the Department of Education. American schools no longer focus on actual education; they train students to regurgitate test answers. Federal mandates force teachers to “teach to the test” instead of instructing students in critical thinking, history, or real-life skills. Schools don’t care if students understand the material. They only care if they pass the test because that determines their federal funding.

The result? Generations of students graduate without the ability to write a coherent paragraph or balance a checkbook, but they know how to fill in the right bubble on a multiple-choice exam. America’s declining educational rankings reflect this failure. While other nations teach coding and computer skills, our schools focus on test performance and gender identity lessons.

Trump’s plan to dismantle the DOE isn’t just sound policy — it’s essential for saving the next generation of Americans. The federal government has repeatedly demonstrated its inability to improve public schools. For more than 40 years, it has failed to produce better outcomes. The only solution is to return control of education to states and local communities, where parents have a voice and schools are accountable to the people, not to Washington bureaucrats.

Democrats will claim this move spells the “end of public schools,” presumably to “pay for tax cuts for billionaires.” Nonsense. States are fully capable of running their own school systems, as they already provide the majority of education funding. The DOE doesn’t teach children, manage classrooms, or ensure school performance. Instead, it enforces ideological conformity, enriches teachers’ unions, and punishes states that refuse to comply with its mandates. It’s a bloated bureaucracy with no real benefit to students. It’s well past time to cut it loose.

The path to success

America’s children deserve a school system that puts education over ideology. They need teachers hired for their competence, not their union connections. Parents should have more influence over their children’s education than distant bureaucrats or union bosses. Schools should equip students for success, not leave them unprepared, dependent, and burdened with student debt for degrees that offer no real career prospects.

The Department of Education has had decades to prove its value — and it has succeeded only in squandering billions of dollars. Shutting it down is the right move. Any politicians defending this bloated bureaucracy aren't protecting children’s futures; they’re protecting their own financial interests.