Hawaii’s Democratic governor welcomes Trump’s Education Department cuts: ‘I’ll take it’

by Elaine Mallon, Washington Examiner, March 13, 2025

Gov. Josh Green (D-HI) welcomed President Donald Trump’s proposal to let states have greater control over their education policies.

The Democratic governor said that if the federal government were to remove some costly bureaucracy, other governors would welcome the move because it would cut overhead costs, allowing states to make better use of federal funding.

“I’ll take it,” Green told NewsNation on Wednesday. “You know, I spent time with the president a couple of weeks ago with all the other governors. If that money flows to we governors, we’ll make good use of it.”

The Education Department accounts for roughly 10% of total education funding. Green said it accounts for 11% in Hawaii. Most federal funds go to Pell Grants for low-income students to go to college, Title I, which gives money to school districts serving low-income children, and special education, which provides funding for children with special needs.

“I need those … I need those dollars for, like, special education for kids with autism, for so many needs, for meals in our schools,” Green said. “So, if the dollars flow to us, and we get rid of some bureaucracy, I think governors will welcome the resource.”

Trump has made clear his intentions to dismantle the Education Department and tasked Education Secretary Linda McMahon with “put[ting] herself out of a job.” This would not eliminate federal funding for education, however, as many Education Department responsibilities would be absorbed by other departments. Civil rights enforcement, for example, would likely go to the Justice Department, and student loans to the Treasury Department.

Trump’s proposal would reduce states’ overhead costs, freeing up more funds for education, since they will not have to allocate resources to ensure that federal directives are put in place, according to Neal McCluskey, director of the CATO Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom.

“Were [the Education Department] to disappear, state DoEs could likely be shrunk, because they are tasked with complying with federal dictates and helping to administer federal programs,” McCluskey told the Washington Examiner. “The federal government adds to state administrative burdens in exchange for federal funds.”

Frederick M. Hess, senior fellow and director of education policy studies for the American Enterprise Institute, said that eliminating the Education Department would “be fine” because of the financial burden it puts on states.

“The Department of Education is extraordinarily bureaucratic,” Hess told the Washington Examiner. “It creates extraordinary amounts of red tape for the nation’s schools, especially relative to the money it actually provides.”

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NN: Hawaii governor in support of states taking over education, but not mass layoffs

TH: Hawaii Gov. Josh Green on Trump wanting states to run education: “I’ll take it”