The Trump Administrated issued a plan on Thursday proposing a merger of the Education and Labor departments. While the proposal is likely to be shut down by Congress, it reflects a deeply rooted Republican opposition to the existence of the Education Department. Betsy DeVos praised the merger plan, saying that it would increase efficiency by “reducing the federal footprint in education.” Leaders of teacher unions and Democrats in Congress say that the proposal is outlandish, and may be an attempt to distract the American public from the humanitarian crisis along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to Lily Eskelsen García, president of the National Education Association.
See "Exactly what Trump’s new plan says about merging the Education and Labor departments", Valerie Strauss, The Washington Post, June 22, 2018