Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education, an agency that Republicans say is too wasteful and too woke. Through a series of layoffs and buyouts, the Trump administration has reduced the agency’s work force by roughly half. The broader goal, administration officials say, is to return more power to the states and to cut down on government waste. But the cuts have left many people concerned about the department’s capacity to carry out its vital functions, like enforcing civil-rights laws. The great purge at the agency has spread fear among employees, upended hundreds of lives, and left some to conclude that the whole point of this operation has been to intimidate and control government workers.

Related Reading:

‘Breathtakingly Irresponsible’: Former Workers Decry Decimation of Education Dept.’s Data Warehouse 

What the Education Dept.’s Job Cuts Could Mean for Financial Aid

Protesters Rally Against Education Dept. Cuts

Guests:

Anthony Badial-Luna, management and program analyst at the Education Department 

Kaitlyn Vitez, higher-education liaison at the Education Department 

Christopher Madaio, former director of the Investigations Group in the Education Department’s enforcement unit; senior adviser at The Institute for College Access & Success

Elizabeth Morrow, a deputy director at the Office of Public Engagement for Non-Discrimination in the Office for Civil Rights 

For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.