US President Donald Trump will sign a long-anticipated executive order on Thursday that aims to shut down the Department of Education.

Axar.az informs that Reuters reported this according to a White House summary.

The order directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure (of) the Department of Education and return education authority to the states, while continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”

Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk have attempted to shut down government programs and institutions such as the US Agency for International Development without congressional approval, but abolishing the Department of Education would be Trump’s first bid to shut down a cabinet-level agency.

Trump cannot shutter the agency without congressional legislation, which could prove difficult. Trump’s Republicans hold a 53–47 majority in the Senate, but major legislation, such as a bill eliminating a cabinet-level agency, would need 60 votes and thus the support of seven Democrats to pass.

Trump has repeatedly called for eliminating the department, calling it “a big con job.” He proposed shuttering it in his first term as president, but Congress did not act.

“Federal government control of education has failed students, parents, and teachers,” the White House said in its summary. It said that the department had spent over $3 trillion since its creation in 1979 without improving student achievement as measured by standardized test scores.

The department oversees some 100,000 public and 34,000 private schools in the United States, although more than 85 percent of public school funding comes from state and local governments. It provides federal grants for needy schools and programs, including money to pay teachers of children with special needs, fund arts programs, and replace outdated infrastructure.

It also oversees the $1.6 trillion in student loans held by tens of millions of Americans who cannot afford to pay for university outright.