Dec. 4, 2025
DEEP DIVE: Beyond “The Maximum Extent Permitted By Law” - Legal Analysis of the U.S. Department of Education’s Transfers of Programs to Other Federal Agencies
This Deep Dive by EducationCounsel and Sligo Law Group, Beyond “The Maximum Extent Permitted By Law”: Legal Analysis of the U.S. Department of Education’s Transfers of Programs to Other Federal Agencies, explores the legal issues surrounding the Trump Administration’s transfer of many U.S. Department of Education (USED) functions and funds to other federal agencies via a series of interagency agreements (IAAs).
On March 20, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order directing Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to, “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law, take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education.” In the latest of several moves to pursue this goal, Secretary McMahon has entered into seven IAAs with other federal agencies. For example, the Administration is shifting a significant number of USED’s K-12 and higher education grant programs to the Department of Labor.
Putting aside the question of whether these transfers are “appropriate” as a matter of sound educational policy, our new Deep Dive explores whether they are “permitted by law.”
We conclude there are significant legal issues that likely make these IAAs unlawful. The IAAs appear to violate applicable appropriations laws enacted by Congress that prohibit USED from transferring funds in this way and likely exceed the statutory authorities cited by the Administration to justify these kinds of wholesale transfers designed to dismantle USED without congressional action.
Click here to access the Alert and click here to download a PDF version.