Thirty House Democrats on Friday morning attempted to enter the Department of Education building in Washington, D.C., to meet with acting Education Secretary Denise L. Carter, but they were stopped by security.
A man who said he was a federal employee did not make it clear why the lawmakers had not been allowed into the building.
Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., asked the man whether he was doing so of his own volition or had been ordered to block the door, to which the man responded that he was doing his job.
As they surrounded the man in front of the door, lawmakers repeatedly insisted that they had the right to enter the building and slammed the Trump administration over a "lack of transparency."
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President Donald Trump and Republicans have advocated for shutting down the Department of Education, saying that the states are better equipped to handle education. Trump on Tuesday said that if Linda McMahon, his pick for education secretary, is confirmed, she should work to "put herself out of a job."
Ninety-six members of Congress, led by Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., wrote a letter to Carter requesting a meeting. The department acknowledged receipt of the letter but did not set up a meeting.
An aide made it inside the building and explained to security that lawmakers were there. Members then tried to go inside the building, and at that point, the doors were locked, Fox News is told.
The Nation's Report Card, which assesses how American students are performing in various subjects, showed seven out of 10 fourth graders are not proficient readers, which is a worse score than the last report card in 2022. The report card noted that reading scores showed "no significant change" since 1992.
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Former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who served in Trump's first administration, slammed the department and called for a revamp in an opinion piece.
"A complete reset begins with ending the failed experiment resident in the Department of Education. The bureaucrats have focused on mandating DEI, when students needed the focus to be on ABC and 123," DeVos wrote. "President Trump and Congress should take their corrosive power away and instead block grant all necessary education funding directly to the states."
"This reset must also ensure that no child in America is trapped in a failing school," DeVos added.
Elon Musk, whose Department of Government Efficiency is expected to recommend major spending cuts, became the subject of Democrats' ire as lawmakers protested against him on Capitol Hill this past Tuesday.
In response to lawmakers' fears, Trump said that Musk "can't do and won't do anything without our approval."
Fox News' Chad Pergram contributed to this report.
