President Trump said on Friday that he is moving “quickly” programs for students with disabilities as the White House closes federal student loan handling to programs for small business administration (SBA) and students with disabilities, with the White House trying to remove the education sector ultimately.
“The SBA, led by Kelly Loeffler, has decided to handle all of the student loan portfolios,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
“In addition, Bobby Kennedy from the Department of Health and Human Services will handle all the special needs and all the nutritional programs and everything else,” he continued.
“I think it will work very well. Those two elements will be taken from the Ministry of Education,” the president added.
The announcement comes a day after Trump signed an executive order from the Education Secretary to dismantle the education department as long as it legally allows it.
While the department cannot be completed without Congressional actions, the Trump administration has made it clear that it will abolish programs that are not in the law and will move requirements mandated by Congress to other federal agencies.
The move to send student loans to the SBA came on the same day the administration announced a 40% cut in the institution's workforce.
Student loans are one of the biggest programs the education sector handles.
Advocates of students with disabilities have been forced back to the idea that these programs would go to HHS, especially under this administration with Secretary Kennedy.
The president's declaration to move these programs out of the education sector will almost certainly be challenged in court, and even more so his actions against his department will be challenged more widely.
