U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) revealed on Tuesday that he has proposed a bill to abolish the Department of Education, citing concerns over the constitutional legitimacy of creating such an entity.
“I have introduced a bill to terminate the Department of Education. There is no Constitutional authority for this federal bureaucracy to exist,” Massie posted online.
“There is no Constitutional authority for this federal bureaucracy to exist.”
I have introduced a bill to terminate the Department of Education.
There is no Constitutional authority for this federal bureaucracy to exist. pic.twitter.com/xKWHgPfVnq
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) February 14, 2023
“Unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. should not be in charge of our children’s intellectual and moral development,” Massie stated in a press release. “States and local communities are best positioned to shape curricula that meet the needs of their students. Schools should be accountable. Parents have the right to choose the most appropriate educational opportunity for their children, including home school, public school, or private school.”
Other supporters of H.R.899 include Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA), and Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX).
The move comes as America’s right wing appears to be experiencing a cultural shift, working more boldly to resist leftist influences on education, with classrooms becoming the forefront of the cultural war seen in the United States.
Massie pointed out that the Department of Education was established in 1980 after former President Jimmy Carter had expressed the desire to form a cabinet-level Department of Education in 1979.
He then referenced a speech delivered by former President Ronald Reagan in Sept. of 1981.
“As a third step, we propose to dismantle two Cabinet Departments, Energy, and Education,” Reagan said at the time. “Both Secretaries are wholly in accord with this. Some of the activities in both of these departments will, of course, be continued either independently or in other areas of government. There’s only one way to shrink the size and cost of big government, and that is by eliminating agencies that are not needed and are getting in the way of a solution.”
“Now, we don’t need an Energy Department to solve our basic energy problem,” continued the former president. “As long as we let the forces of the marketplace work without undue interference, the ingenuity of consumers, business, producers, and inventors will do that for us. Similarly, education is the principal responsibility of local school systems, teachers, parents, citizen boards, and State governments. By eliminating the Department of Education less than 2 years after it was created, we cannot only reduce the budget but ensure that local needs and preferences, rather than the wishes of Washington, determine the education of our children.”
Massie, who invoked his strong passion for the U.S. Constitution as part of his reasoning to justify the abolition of the Department of Education, is similarly uncompromising in his views of protecting the Second Amendment. In a recent hearing, the Kentucky representative stressed that ‘shall not be infringed’ means exactly that — ‘shall not be infringed.’
