Wisconsin politicians react to Trump's order to dismantle Education Department

MADISON (WKOW) -- President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday afternoon calling for the dismantling the U.S. Department of Education.

Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat, issued a statement Thursday morning ahead of the signing, criticizing the move. 

"Shutting down the Department of Education would mean taking from our kids' educations to give more money to folks like Elon Musk," he said. "We filed suit last week to block the Trump administration's shameful attempt to dismantle the Department of Education, and we won't back down from protecting its vital role in supporting access to quality education. As Donald Trump continues trying to sabotage critical institutions, we're going to keep stepping up to stop his actions that would weaken America."

Last week, Wisconsin joined 20 other states in suing the Trump administration to stop cuts at the Education Department. 

U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, also a Democrat, said she will fight against Trump's executive order. 

"Donald Trump and Elon Musk are coming after your kids' education so they can give tax breaks to rich guys like themselves and big corporations," she said in a statement. "Make no mistake: the goal here is to cut funding from our public schools and it's Wisconsin families and students who will suffer. Dismantling the Department of Education will jeopardize support for students with disabilities, threaten students' ability to get a good education, and make it harder to keep children safe. Cuts to education funding could mean teachers are fired, class sizes go up, mental health and school safety programs vanish, and students not getting the education they need and deserve. Donald Trump remains hellbent on rigging the system for the ultrawealthy at Wisconsin families' expense and I’ll fight like hell to make sure our students aren't the ones paying for Republicans tax breaks for billionaires."

Rep. Tony Wied, who represents northeastern Wisconsin, said he supports the president.

"The Department of Education has failed America's students by every metric," he said in a post on X.

27 News will update this article as other lawmakers react to the executive order.