DOGE ends nearly $1B in federal education contracts to nix waste — and DEI

Nearly $1 billion in contracts with the federal Department of Education have been terminated, including one for $1.5 million to “observe mailing and clerical operations” at a mail facility — and scores involving DEI.

Eighty-nine contracts worth more than $881 million have been ended, the Department of Government Efficiency boasted Monday without providing specifics about the cuts — although critics said they target programs designed to track student progress.

DOGE said it also took the fiscal chainsaw to 29 diversity, equity and inclusion programs costing a total of around $101 million.

Outside education groups claimed that the main target of the latest rounds of cuts was the Education Department’s Institute of Education Sciences, which conducts evaluations and research to help produce statistics on students’ academic standings.

IES also helps oversee the National Assessment of Educational Progress exam and coordinate US participation in the Programme for International Student Assessment assessment, which is used to compare students’ academic standing in countries across the world.

Last month, data from the NAEP that was used for the nation’s report card revealed that at least a third of students in the country fail to show “basic” abilities that are expected for their age bracket. The test assesses fourth and eighth graders.

IES was given roughly $800 million in the past fiscal year as part of the DOE’s total $241.66 billion budget, according to data from USASpending.gov.

The DOE did not respond to a Post request for more details about the recent batch of cost-cutting measures.

Two prominent research groups — the American Educational Research Association and the Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics — claim that at least 169 contracts were canned and argued that the cuts will hinder student progress.

The critics specifically harped on cuts to the National Center for Education Statistics, which is housed under IES.

“Without such research, student learning and development will be harmed,” the two groups argued. “The capacity to collect and report on these indicators is essential to assuring that education works for all Americans.”

President Trump has long called for the elimination of the DOE altogether to relinquish its power back to the states. His administration is currently mulling its options with executive action to abolish the department.

Trump has said he instructed DOGE boss Elon Musk to give the department a thorough review.

“I’m going to tell him very soon, like maybe in 24 hours, to go check the Department of Education; he’s going to find the same thing,” Trump told Fox News’ Bret Baier in an interview that aired Sunday, referring to financial waste.

Democrats have railed against DOGE’s efforts to pare back federal spending without going through Congress first.

“An unelected billionaire is now bulldozing the research arm of the Department of Education — taking a wrecking ball to high-quality research and basic data we need to improve our public schools,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said in a statement.

“Cutting off these investments after the contract has already been inked is the definition of wasteful,” said the Democrat, who sits on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

The Senate has not yet confirmed Education Secretary nominee Linda McMahon to helm the department.

Trump has maintained that her goal should be to “put herself out of a job.”

DOGE and the Trump administration have faced a number of legal challenges in the courts that have yet to be resolved.