Utah Gov. Spencer Cox supports President Donald Trump’s recent cuts to the Department of Education and said he backs the president’s plan to dismantle the federal department entirely.

He announced his position in an opinion piece published Monday in the Washington Examiner, a conservative news outlet based in Washington, D.C.

“If we’re serious about improving education, it’s time for a thoughtful, commonsense discussion about winding down the department altogether,” Cox wrote. “That’s why it’s encouraging to see President Donald Trump and newly confirmed Secretary of Education Linda McMahon reducing the role of the Department of Education and returning power where it belongs: to states and local communities.”

A spokesperson for Cox did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The piece was published about two weeks after Cox and other GOP state leaders on Feb. 28 announced a series of public education investments, including a $1,400 raise for all public school teachers.

“We see you. We recognize you,” Cox said to public educators at the time.

That raise announcement came after Cox signed a bill into law on Feb. 14 that bans collective bargaining for teachers and other public workers. Utah labor unions have since launched a referendum to repeal the measure; Cox said Feb. 28 that the raises weren’t meant to squash the then-planned effort.

“This is the right thing to do,” Cox said about the pay increase. “If there is a referendum, the people in the state of Utah will get to decide if that’s a good thing or not.”

Why Cox says he supports dismantling the Education Department

In his opinion piece, Cox maintained that public education should be governed solely by the states, even if the lack of national oversight, as some have argued, may cause some states to fall behind.

“That’s how federalism works,” Cox wrote. “Our founders expected states to try different approaches and learn from one another. Innovation happens when states are free to lead, not when Washington imposes one-size-fits-all solutions.”

He argued that Washington, D.C., has overstepped its role and is “telling states how to educate their children.”

One of the primary roles of the Department of Education is to provide federal funding to public schools, especially through Title programs such as Title I. This program gives extra funding to schools with a high number of economically disadvantaged students.

Many Title I schools rely on that funding, because state contributions often inadequately support high-need students.

Cox in his opinion piece argued that the process to receive Title I funds has become too “burdensome” and that states must jump “through expensive, time-consuming hoops” to apply for the funding.

“That’s not to say the goals behind these programs aren’t worthwhile,” he wrote, “But the idea that Utah — or any state — needs Washington bureaucrats overseeing our schools is both outdated and wrong.”

Sarah Reale, a member of the Utah State Board of Education, called the governor’s remarks “ironic.”

While he and others argue that slashing the department will cut bureaucracy and time-consuming funding requirements, she said Cox has “signed dozens of bills into law that, on a state level, have added layers of bureaucracy, removed local flexibility and governance and created additional red tape for [schools] through various state monitoring requirements.”

In his piece, Cox wrote that cutting the Department of Education’s workforce in half is a “promising start” for fixing the problem that is “federal control” over public education.

“Utah has a long track record of investing in education, including supporting low-income schools,” his piece added. “But we could do it with more flexibility, less bureaucracy, and greater accountability to Utah families — not Washington regulators.”

Reale argued that leaving education purely up to the states means there is “no guarantee” that various student populations will be served equally.

“Our most marginalized and disadvantaged students would suffer without those federal guidelines,” Reale argued.

Utah currently maintains its second-to-last position in the nation for funding students, according to the latest rankings released last year, which were based on financial figures from 2021, the most recently available nationally. Utah at the time allocated roughly $9,095 per student, about a third of New York’s $26,571, which took the top spot.

The state’s largest teachers union, the Utah Education Association, did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment on Cox’s column.

“Dismantling the Department of Education may sound bold,” Cox concluded in his piece. “But it’s also common sense. Washington doesn’t have all the answers. It’s time to trust states and local communities to do what they do best.”

A video recording of President Donald Trump allegedly suggesting renaming Washington, DC, has gone viral on social media. The clip only features the voice of the 47th President and claims to capture him in a “hot mic” moment. In it, Trump proposes changing the name of the US Capital from Washington, DC, to Washington, DA. The 78-year-old takes issues with the presence of the word Columbia in the name of the national capital and wants to change it to “America.”

The clip sparked curiosity on social media, with many questioning its authenticity. According to Grok, the video is a deepfake. A post by the AI chatbot stated that, “No evidence supports the claim that Trump wants to rename Washington, D.C., to “District of America” (DA). Research shows he’s focused on federal control of DC, not renaming it. The idea may stem from a mix-up over “Columbia,” but it’s likely misinformation. Trump has suggested renaming other places, like the Gulf of Mexico, but not DC.”

President Trump has changed the names of several places and landmarks in and around the US since taking over the Oval Office in January. He has renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and reverted Mt. Denali in Alaska to its original name, Mt. McKinley.

Washington
CNN
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Tyler Wolf was laid off last week from his job as an employment attorney at the US Department of Health and Human Services. The 32-year-old had been saving up to buy a home and planned to move in with his girlfriend this year.

Wolf is now planning to move out of his apartment near The Wharf, a trendy waterfront business district in the city, by early April to live with his parents in Virginia. He has also cut back on his spending.

The Trump administration’s overhaul of the federal government, carried out in large part by Elon Musk’s government efficiency team, has left tens of thousands in Washington without a job. That’s threatening a key economic engine of America’s capital city — consumer spending.

And with signs of strain already showing, economists at Moody’s say DC could slip into a recession as soon as this year.

Wolf has already adjusted his behavior accordingly as he looks for a new position in a competitive job market.

“I’m lucky that I don’t have children or a mortgage because it gives me a bit more flexibility, but this is definitely going to set me back quite a bit,” Wolf said. “Now I’ve been cooking at home, I try not to go out for drinks, and it’s been a bit disheartening seeing most open attorney positions here asking for a lot more experience than I have.”

There are about 2.4 million federal workers in the United States, excluding those employed by the military and the Postal Service — 17% of whom live in the DC metropolitan area, according to government data. So far, the Trump administration has fired at least 103,452 workers across the federal government nationwide (though some of those cuts are being challenged in the courts).

First-time applications for unemployment benefits in Washington spiked throughout February, likely reflecting contractor job losses, according to economists. That might just be tip of the iceberg: Forecasters at Oxford Economists project 33,700 federal job losses in the DC metro in 2025. And this year’s job market likely won’t be able to absorb all of those federal workers who are expected to be out of work, said Allison Shrivastava, an economist at jobs site Indeed.

The job cuts Oxford Economics forecasts for the DC metro would amount to $4.9 billion in lost wages this year; federal workers’ paychecks account for 1.6% of the total wages earned in the metropolitan area, according to the group’s analysis. Contractors and others who indirectly depend on the government add more, as well.

People tend to pull back on spending when they no longer have steady income, and nonessential goods and services typically get hit first — ultimately generate a ripple effect throughout the economy.

Alexandra Reid, who lives in Washington with her husband and dog, was laid off last month from her program specialist job at the National Institutes of Health. The 30-year-old said losing her job halved her household’s income; the couple will likely need to dip into their savings just to get by.

“I have stopped pretty much all spending on nonessentials since I received the termination notice, only making food, grocery, and transportation purchases as a protective measure,” Reid said. “And this is just a terrible job market right now to be in.”

On Thursday, a second federal judge ruled that that thousands of probationary employees who were laid off by the Trump administration must get their jobs back temporarily. Reid told CNN that the ruling would apply to her and is hopeful she’ll get her job back soon.

The impact on businesses and housing

Miloud Benzerga, owner of Timgad Café in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, told CNN that he estimates foot traffic to his shop is down about 25% to 30% compared to January, before the Trump administration began to fire workers.

He said his café, which employs nine people, managed to survive the Covid-19 pandemic, but he’s not so sure that will be case this time around.

“It make me sad that a lot of people are losing their jobs, and of course, that has something to do with my business, too,” Benzerga said. “If it gets worse, we’ll have to close, and I am not the only one. I’ve talked with other business inside food court.”

“We’re hearing concerns from businesses about the overall reduction in local business activity but also about the federal cuts,” Chinyere Hubbard, president of the DC Chamber of Commerce, told CNN.

She said the chamber has started to see “a lot of interest” from businesses in its resources and events, such as an upcoming small-business expo.

Adam Kamins, director of regional economics at Moody’s, said that the impact of President Donald Trump’s layoffs will be immediately felt by consumer-facing industries, such as retail and hospitality, and that the economic pain is expected to be more widespread later in the year.

“The recession in DC will be noticeable during the second half of this year, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it actually started in March because we’ve already seen little indications of weakness,” Kamins said, adding that “there’s always a lag between when things are happening in the economy and when the data reflect those events.”

The metro’s housing market also suggests more people might be leaving the metro area amid Trump’s layoffs: Homes listed for sale began to pick up in late January, according to Realtor.com data, and were 56.2% higher in the week of March 8 compared to the same week a year earlier. That reflects a sharp acceleration from the second half of last year, when inventory growth hovered between 20% and 30%.

“So far, we’re seeing more homes on the market, and modestly lower asking prices, but the situation continues to evolve,” Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, said in a statement. “While I expect many households will choose to stay in the area and pivot to find new job opportunities, some will likely choose to leave and retire or find a job elsewhere.”

“I’m more upset than anything because of the arbitrary nature of all this, but I do feel confident that I’ll get back on my feet — with time,” said Wolf.