The secretary says it is "difficult" to defend some of the cuts, adding they were underway before her arrival. She continues to support the department's elimination, however.
Senate Democrats urge Education and Treasury leaders to rescind the agreement, warning the transfer of loan management responsibilities would worsen dysfunction and increase costs in the $1.7 trillion federal student loan system.
Agriculture's reorganization would create inconveniences and damage relationships the tribal governments have worked hard to establish, they told the department.
The Trump administration is shifting a $1.7 trillion portfolio to the Treasury Department in a multiphase process to dismantle the Education Department, drawing sharp criticism from Democrats and labor groups
A coalition of nonprofits, research institutions, child welfare advocates and more note that plans to push research out of the Administration for Children and Families and into the purview of political appointees jeopardize the credibility of that work.