DOGE announces nearly $900 million in cuts at Department of Education

The Department of Education received a million-dollar budget cut from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which canceled dozens of contracts and grants among an intense legal battle waged against Elon Musk and his team.

According to a DOGE publication, almost $900 million of Department of Education contracts and grants were terminated.

"Also today, the Department Of Education terminated 89 contracts worth $881mm," DOGE announced. "One contractor was paid $1.5mm to 'observe mailing and clerical operations' at a mail center."

In addition to the contracts, DOGE terminated 29 grants "associated with diversity and equity training," the New York Times reported.

The move comes amid several lawsuits and criticism against DOGE and Musk, the department's leader.

Musk, unequivocally endorsed by President Donald Trump, is leading a team whose main mission is to debureaucratize the federal government and reduce government spending, two goals that are drawing a lot of criticism in Washington, D.C. and the rest of the country from Trump's political opponents.

For example, a week ago, Attorney Letitia James led a lawsuit by 19 Democratic attorneys general who want to block DOGE's "unlawful" access to the Treasury Department's payment system, arguing that Musk's team should not have access to Americans' personal data.

"In the past week, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has given Elon Musk access to Americans personal private information, state bank account data, and other information that is some of our country's most sensitive data," the prosecutors said in a statement. "In defense of our Constitution, our right to privacy, and the essential funding that individuals and communities nationwide are counting on, we will be filing a lawsuit to stop this injustice."

Regarding budget cuts to the Department of Education, critics said most of the contractual cuts affected the Institute of Education Sciences' portfolio, including innovation and education grants.

In addition, the NYT reported that the cuts affect programs that research best practices in education. Officially, however, the Department of Education did not detail the programs or grants that were suspended.

However, DOGE and Musk himself have claimed for weeks that the Department of Education squanders too much money year after year, including a big expenditure of at least $1 billion on grants to promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in hiring, programming and mental health training in U.S. schools since 2021.

DOGE and Musk have also taken aim at USAID, the U.S. government's international aid agency, which was closed after criticism from President Donald Trump over excessive spending that went far beyond needed humanitarian aid.