Trump’s, Musk’s cuts to education are most damaging

In my long life of service to my community, I have never seen the outrageous, lawless, and anti-constitutional actions of Donald Trump and his handlers, most egregiously, Elon Musk. These are a gang of thugs, shredding our government and our democracy in just a few short weeks. Musk’s chainsaw is an appropriate symbol of the destruction.

Congress has the sole constitutional authority to appropriate money and create or disband agencies. So far, Trump has unlawfully dismantled USAID, Voice of America, Institute of Museum and Library Services, U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, to name a few. All of this is illegal.

The most troubling action, that will affect our children across our nation and here in Snohomish, is the threat to dismantle the Department of Education. Following the game plan elucidated in Project 2025, Trump has already slashed the Education Department’s workforce in half and cut $600 million in grants.

The Department of Education provides funds for school lunch programs, special ed programs, low-income school funding, school safety programs, and vocational training services in their portfolio of vital services. It’s like the billionaires vs. our children. Tyrants want us to be ignorant. Democracy needs education.

Trump was a convicted criminal before this last election and is now continuing to blatantly disregard the rule of law, while daring us to do something to stop this. We can stop this. We must stop this. We will speak up, stand up and go to the streets. It’s a time for courage and community. We are the people.

Karen Guzak

Snohomish

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Opinion

toon
Editorial cartoons for Saturday, June 21

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

In this Sept. 2017, photo made with a drone, a young resident killer whale chases a chinook salmon in the Salish Sea near San Juan Island, Wash. The photo, made under a National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) permit, which gives researchers permission to approach the animals, was made in collaboration with NOAA Fisheries/Southwest Fisheries Science Center, SR3 Sealife Response, Rehabilitation, and Research and the Vancouver Aquarium's Coastal Ocean Research Institute. Endangered Puget Sound orcas that feed on chinook salmon face more competition from seals, sea lions and other killer whales than from commercial and recreational fishermen, a new study finds. (John Durban/NOAA Fisheries/Southwest Fisheries Science Center via AP)
Editorial: A loss for Northwest tribes, salmon and energy

The White House’s scuttling of the Columbia Basin pact returns uncertainty to salmon survival.

Shreya Karthik
Comment: Signing on to a bright future in STEM careers

A Jackson grad signs her intent to study neuroscience, impressed with the doctors who saved her dad.

Comment: ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ hides ugly consequences for families

Urge your members of Congress to preserve funding for Medicaid, SNAP and more that aids communities.

Comment: Why you don’t want MAHA as your nutritionist or doctor

Americans can make their own health choices; government helps best by informing those choices.

Forum: Building WSU Everett as it grows our local workforce

Our region will need credential workers. Support for WSU Everett is key to meeting the needs of students.

Forum: The arc of pride and mourning for a kid’s athletic dream

Disappointment when a child’s aspirations end allows finding acceptance and hope in new objectives.

toon
Editorial cartoons for Friday, June 20

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Schwab: At least those in the parade were having a good time

Denied a menacing ‘tone’ from parading soldiers, Trump’s countenance betrayed an unhappy birthday.

Saunders: What Trump is seeking is an Iran with no nukes

There are risks if the U.S. joins in Israel’s war with Iran, but the risks are greater if it doesn’t.

Comment: Ruling on gender-affirming care flawed, cruel

It deferring to state legislatures, the majority ignores precedent on serving the rights of minority groups.

Kristof: Global hunger is easy to solve; actually, we had

Solutions for parasites and malnutrition are at hand. It’s the will to fund programs that is now missing.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.