She says Trump has ‘created chaos and confusion’
Posted: March 11, 2026
President Donald Trump has “created chaos and confusion—all at the expense of students,” U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D, HI) said during a news conference she held in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, the one-year anniversary of Trump’s attack on the U.S. Department of Education.
Hirono was joined by senators Dick Durbin (D, IL) and Chris Van Hollen (D, MD), education advocates, labor leaders, and other stakeholders—including former education department employees—to raise alarms about how the president’s administration has shortchanged students, teachers, administrators, and federal workers.
“At every turn, President Trump and billionaire Secretary of Education Linda McMahon have created chaos and confusion—all at the expense of students. Trump is spending millions to undermine public education and prevent public servants from doing their jobs,” said Hirono.
We know this regime will continue its attacks on the Department of Education, federal workers, public schools, and the more than 50 million children who attend them. That’s why it’s so important that we continue calling attention to these attacks and holding this regime accountable,” she added.
Watch: Sen. Hirono speaks at news conference to decry education cuts
Speaking at the news conference, National Parents Union President Keri Rodrigues said, “Parents didn’t sign up for chaos. We signed up for schools that work. We want the department focused on what it was built to do – making sure every child can read, that math achievement is real, that families have actual choices that work for them.”
On March 11, 2025, McMahon, the education secretary, fired 2,000 education department employees—nearly half the agency’s workforce. Since then, the Trump administration has proposed illegally transferring nearly all federal K-12 programs and many higher education programs to other federal agencies that have limited capacity to run them and no experience with them. This move would essentially fulfill Trump’s campaign promise to dismantle the Department of Education and remove the federal government’s role in helping to ensure that all students have access to a quality education.
Related post: U.S. DOE plans to lay off nearly half its workforce
How Sen. Hirono has fought back to protect students, educators
Hirono has fought back against the Trump administration’s attacks on public education for the past year. Notable efforts include:
- Spotlight forums, bringing together educators, students, administrators, advocates, and experts, to demonstrate the widespread consequences of rollbacks at the federal education department.
- Last month, she highlighted the department’s efforts to dismantle support for over 800 Minority Serving Institutions that serve more than 5 million students nationwide.
- In December, her forum covered the Trump administration’s illegal attacks on federal programs.
- In September, she highlighted cuts to student loans.
- In July, her forum spotlighted the withholding of federal funding from K-12 public education programs.
- In June, she raised alarms about widespread cuts public education would face from the “Big Ugly Bill”
- She has also held stakeholder roundtables and pushed for legislation to protect federal education programs, including during consideration of the “Big Ugly Bill.”
Last April, Hirono visited HSTA to speak with nearly 30 teacher leaders about Republicans’ “all-out assault on education” in a forum.
“We have to stand up for public education in a way we havenʻt been asked to before,” Hirono told the educators. “I’ve never seen an assault on education like I’m witnessing now.”
Her remarks last April came just hours after a federal judge blocked the U.S. Department of Education’s unprecedented and unlawful attempt to restrict discussions and programs on diversity, equity, and inclusion in educational institutions, and its threat to withhold federal funding for engaging in such efforts.