House Democrats went to the Department of Education on Friday to demand a meeting over President Donald Trump’s desire to dismantle the department — but they couldn’t even enter the building.
The group of about 20 Democrats said they hoped to meet with acting Secretary Denise Carter. When they tried to enter the building, the doors — which read “all access entrance” — were locked, with a security guard outside and officers inside.
“We are here on an oversight mission,” Rep. Mark Takano told a group of reporters and staff. “That is the constitutional role of Congress. We are disturbed that Donald Trump has said that we will issue an executive order to dismantle and abolish the Department of Education. I repeat, he cannot do that. That is illegal.”
Trump said he is drafting an executive order to significantly diminish the Department of Education and pushing for legislation to eliminate it entirely.
A Department of Education spokesperson said the group of lawmakers “did not have any scheduled appointments, and the protest has since ended.”
“The protest was organized by members of Congress who were exercising their First Amendment rights, which they are at liberty to do,” the spokesperson said.
The White House did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Democrats have requested information from the acting head of the department on possible changes, including the involvement of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. Lawmakers led by Sens. Bernie Sanders and Patty Murray wrote to Carter asking for, among other things, a list of any employees with access to sensitive personal data and any who have been placed on administrative leave or fired.
Takano said the lawmakers hoped to ask the acting secretary on Friday not to comply with any executive order to shut down the department.
Although they said shutting down the Department of Education without congressional approval would be unconstitutional, Democrats said the courts might not be enough to stop it.
“While I sure hope that the courts that Trump has tried to stack would be willing to stand up for the Constitution, there are many other ways that we can defend our laws and our kids,” Rep. Greg Casar told NOTUS.
Rep. Bill Foster told NOTUS that the public protest is part of Democrats’ job to stand up to the Trump administration and that the courts aren’t enough to protect unconstitutional action.
“We need more than just the courts,” Foster said. He referred to the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954, which ordered school districts to desegregate. For 10 years after that, Foster said, districts continued to ignore the decision until later court rulings closed loopholes.
Democrats urged Republicans to join them in protecting the department.
“We need a public campaign involving members of Congress and people asking the hard questions of every vulnerable House Republican about whether they are willing, whether they want to stand up for Elon Musk or whether they want to stand up for public school kids,” Casar said.
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Helen Huiskes is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.