Trump orders Education Department shutdown as universities brace for funding cuts
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Good morning. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
- Trump moves to shut down his Education Department.
- They were banned from assisted living. They stayed in the caregiving business.
- A non-hiker’s guide to Death Valley — what to do, see and eat in the charming towns nearby.
- And here’s today’s e-newspaper.
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A shock to the education system
President Trump’s vow to dismantle the Education Department got one step closer Thursday when he signed an executive order calling for the shutdown of the nearly 45-year-old federal agency.
“Closing the Department of Education would provide children and their families the opportunity to escape a system that is failing them,” the order states.
Constitutionally, dissolving the Cabinet-level agency can only be done through an act of Congress, and it’s unclear if enough representatives are reticent enough to vote it out of existence. But in the meantime, the Republican administration has moved to lay off more than 1,300 workers in the department and shutter several regional branches of its Office of Civil Rights.
The order directs the Secretary of Education (currently Linda McMahon, former World Wrestling Entertainment president and CEO) to close down the department “while ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”
The president has indicated those include Pell grants for low-income college students, aid for students from disadvantaged families and programs for students with disabilities.
Whether Trump’s order becomes reality, it has already sent shock waves across education systems in the Golden State, home to more K-12 and college students than any other in the nation.
And as Times reporters Howard Blume, Jenny Gold, Jaweed Kaleem and Daniel Miller wrote in this handy primer, Trump and California’s education institutions were already on a collision course that’s now in high gear.
“California Democratic leaders are especially at odds with the Trump administration over the state’s assistance to immigrants who are not authorized to live in the U.S.,” they wrote, “and for measures that designate LGBTQ+ individuals as a group with full protection from discrimination.”
Trump’s campaign against ‘DEI’ has UC on the defense
The order also states that all schools and universities receiving federal funding must “terminate illegal discrimination obscured under the label ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ or similar terms and programs promoting gender ideology.”
So far, Trump and his acolytes’ campaign against DEI has been a blunt-force purge that’s led to the deletion of government webpages commemorating the military service of Navajo Code Talkers, the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan and Black veterans, including Dodgers legend Jackie Robinson (some pages were later restored).
In response to Trump’s threats, the University of California’s regents voted this week to scrap the decades-old practice of “diversity statement” submissions by faculty job applicants. Jaweed explained how that worked in his recent coverage:
“As part of job applications or promotions, many departments at UC campuses have asked job seekers to submit written testimonials of one or two pages about how they have worked to enhance and support racial and other kinds of diversity in their fields. The essay requests started to appear in some UC applications in the early 2000s and gained popularity in the 2010s, attracting both praise and controversy as UC became a national leader in the practice.”
Brian Soucek, a UC Davis law professor and expert on diversity statements, told Jaweed that the statements are supposed to “look for ways in which our specific fields may be falling short in producing scholarship that addresses the needs of a diverse public.”
The university leaders’ decision came before Trump’s order Thursday, but after the federal government launched investigations at UC and other campuses in the state and nation over allegations of discrimination against white, Asian American and Jewish employees and students.
Other universities are also moving to stay out of Trump’s DEI crosshairs. USC recently shut down its DEI office and merged the staff with a “culture” team, Jaweed noted.
Funding cut fears go beyond just DEI
Also this week, UC officials announced a systemwide hiring freeze, plus cutbacks on maintenance, business travel and more.
That was in response to Trump’s threats to slash funding for medical and science research, which are vital to UC’s “mission as the nation’s premier public university system,” Jaweed explained.
“The threat of losing [National Institutes of Health] funding looms large at UC, which received $2.6 billion from the agency out of the system’s $4.2 billion in federal awards last year,” he wrote. “San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles campuses took in the bulk of the funding.”
UC leaders have not ruled out layoffs at individual campuses. That comes as some system workers unions negotiate for higher pay and other workplace improvements.
Some faculty members have protested the White House’s actions and demanded that their leadership not capitulate.
“Colleges and universities have been one of the foremost institutions in defense of democracy in the world,” Michael Chwe, a political science professor at UCLA, told Jaweed during a rally this week. “We have to resist now because it’s possible higher education as we know it might not exist in five or 10 years.”
Today’s top stories
‘I wish you’d be angry.’ California Democrats face voter fury over Trump and Elon Musk
- In California’s deep-blue districts, town hall meetings have become venting sessions for voters fed up with Trump, Musk and the weakness of the Democratic Party.
- Lawmakers have tried to walk the line between showing their own anger and explaining that, with Republicans controlling the House, the Senate and the White House, there’s only so much they can do.
Banned from assisted living? It’s hard for consumers to tell
- For Californians seeking care for themselves or their loved ones, it’s not easy to find out if someone involved with another kind of care facility has been banned from running an assisted living home by the California Department of Social Services.
- The names of barred individuals aren’t posted anywhere that is readily available to the public, according to Social Services.
- A state bill that would have required the list of banned individuals to be prominently posted on a state website died in Sacramento nearly a decade ago.
What else is going on
- Point Reyes’ historic dairies have been ousted after a legal battle. Locals say it’s conservation gone mad.
- Jackie Robinson’s Army story has been restored to the Defense Department site after removal in a DEI purge.
- Fewer California kindergarten students were immunized against the measles last year, new data show.
- Responding to Trump, Ventura proposes protections for LGBTQ+ people and immigrants.
- Blake Lively moves to dismiss Justin Baldoni’s countersuit, citing California law on misconduct claims.
- Their homes survived the Eaton fire. But living there has been hell, residents say.
- 1,000 park workers who were fired in DOGE cuts have been reinstated.
- Faced with soaring landslide costs, Palos Verdes considers a toll on the iconic coastal road.
- Tesla attacks mark a surreal twist in political violence as Musk divides America.
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Commentary and opinions
- Why Tesla’s bumpy ride may not be over, columnist Michael Hiltzik writes.
- In a turbulent time, the LAFD union head isn’t who you think he is, writes columnist Gustavo Arellano.
- For American Girl doll fans, ‘1923’ is the show to watch, culture critic Mary McNamara writes.
- What happens when Washington runs amok? Guest contributor Keith Richotte, Jr. says, ask a Native American.
This morning’s must reads
They were banned from assisted living. They stayed in the caregiving business. A Times investigation found that being banned from operating assisted living homes in California didn’t stop people from being involved in other care facilities. As a result, Californians have no simple way to check whether a provider at a health facility or home health agency was previously banned from assisted living homes. Finding trustworthy care will become only more pressing as the state braces for the needs of a rapidly aging population.
Other must reads
- ‘Show up and share’: How one UCLA ICU helps patients and staff live with dying.
- Hate doing dishes? This restaurant dishwasher cleans 500 a shift and says it’s her therapy.
- How to protect yourself from the dangerous haze of wildfire smoke.
- For Naomi Watts, back with a new movie and a book, resilience is her friend.
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.
For your downtime
Going out
- 🏜️ A non-hiker’s guide to Death Valley — what to do, see and eat in the charming towns nearby.
- 🎤 Shaky voice? There’s no shame at this no-audition choir that’s teaching Angelenos to sing.
- ✈️Luxury at LAX? How Delta is going after the high-end market.
Staying in
- 📕 Was his sister’s death really suicide? A sibling confronts his own limited understanding in his new memoir, “A Better Ending.”
- 🍝 Here’s a recipe for one-pan pasta with tomato sauce.
- ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.
A question for you: What’s your favorite California book?
Kristen Breck writes: “I think the 1971 novel, “Angle of Repose,” by Wallace Stegner is one of the best western (including California) stories. I haven’t read it in a long time but, when I did, I was mesmerized by the courage of the story, the vast and powerful landscape, and how the characters experienced and represented it.”
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And finally ... your photo of the day
Show us your favorite place in California! Send us photos you have taken of spots in California that are special — natural or human-made — and tell us why they’re important to you.
Today’s great photo is from Times photographer Robert Gauthier at the Dodgers’ season opener against the Cubs in Tokyo.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Ryan Fonseca, reporter
Christian Orozco, assistant editor
Andrew Campa, Sunday reporter
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Hunter Clauss, multiplatform editor
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
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