The plan has sparked substantial political backlash, with critics arguing the moves reduce educational expertise, burden students and families, and could jeopardize funding and resources.

The moves are part of a broader political debate about the future of the Education Department and how federal education responsibilities should be distributed across agencies.

Questions linger about whether other programs, including potential shifts of special education oversight to HHS, will follow, a prospect opposed by disability advocates.

Earlier steps already shifted major K-12 and higher-ed programs to the Department of Labor and other agencies, expanding a pattern of reorganizations.

Overall, the coverage frames the interagency transfers as a contentious effort to shrink the Education Department and reallocate authority, with disputed implications for students and schools.

Education Secretary McMahon argues the changes increase efficiency, coordination, and state-level governance, while also noting that full department closure requires congressional action.

Despite calls to move special education programs, current announcements do not specify changes to the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, leaving the future of IDEA-funded grants unsettled.

A sweeping interagency shift transfers several grant programs from the Education Department to HHS and expands State Department oversight, including a data collection and reporting role under Section 117.

Under the new agreements, the State Department will also manage a portal tracking foreign gifts to U.S. universities and require colleges to disclose gifts of $250,000 or more annually.

Labor unions and some Democratic lawmakers warn the reorganizations could create confusion, increase bureaucracy, and undermine educational stability for students and schools.

Notably, the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services remains untouched in these transfers, keeping IDEA-funded programs under the Education Department despite ongoing debate.

Prominent Republicans have floated parceling core functions to other agencies, while making clear Congress alone can fully dismantle the Education Department.