Education Department duties will be handled by SBA and HHS, Trump says after ordering DOE dismantlin

[mystery-ak]

 Education Department duties will be handled by SBA and HHS, Trump says after ordering DOE dismantling
By Diana Glebova   
Published March 21, 2025, 1:48 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON — Duties once carried out by the Department of Education will be handled by the Small Business Administration and Department of Health and Human Services, President Trump revealed Friday after ordering the DOE to begin winding down operations.

“I’ve decided that the SBA, the Small Business Administration headed by Kelly Loeffler, terrific person, will handle all of the student loan portfolio,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, referring to the $1.6 trillion in federally backed loans currently under the DOE’s purview.

That responsibility will be transferred to the SBA “immediately,” Trump added. “They’re all set for it.”

HHS, led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., will be in charge of “[funding for] special needs [students] and all the nutrition programs and everything else,” the president went on.

The DOE’s other current responsibilities include helping enforce civil rights law and conducting research on education best practices, as well as developing regular assessments of student performance dubbed “The Nation’s Report Card.”

more
https://nypost.com/2025/03/21/us-news/education-department-duties-will-be-handled-by-sba-and-hhs-trump-says-after-ordering-doe-dismantling/

[Timber Rattler]

Meanwhile, the SBA announced Friday it will reduce its workforce by 43%, “ending the expansive social policy agenda of the prior Administration, eliminating non-essential roles, and returning to pre-pandemic staffing levels.”

Trump seems somewhat over-optimistic about SBA's ability to handle that function, especially after slashing its workforce by 43%.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Trump seems somewhat over-optimistic about SBA's ability to handle that function, especially after slashing its workforce by 43%.

 

Once the information has been fed to computers not running COBOL, I bet they get more work done with fewer people.

[Timber Rattler]

Once the information has been fed to computers not running COBOL, I bet they get more work done with fewer people.

Maybe or maybe not.  SBA nearly collapsed under the strain of handling the COVID claims.  I don't see how it can possibly manage student loans on top of that, and with reduced 43% staffing to boot.  Who's going to answer the phones and emails from loan recipients?

Flashback:



Small-business owners say they were mistakenly accused of defaulting on federal Covid loans

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/covid-loans-collections-small-business-administration-rcna182835

“It’s a complete s--- show,” said Trevor Curran, who co-runs Aurora Consulting, a Connecticut-based firm that has helped dozens of small-business owners manage and obtain SBA loans. “Dysfunctional internal systems, incompetent processing, bad communications.”

Along with the added stress and wasted time trying to fix mistakes, several business owners accused of default have faced real financial consequences due to the agency’s alleged blunders, including garnished or withheld Social Security checks and tax refunds, intercepted Medicaid payments, and files sent to private collectors who’ve flagged delinquencies on credit reports, Curran said.