(NewsNation) — Democratic members of Congress were denied entry into the Department of Education on Friday morning.
Doors to the building were locked, and Congress members could be seen having tense interactions with a security guard.
“They are blocking members of Congress from entering the Department of Education! Elon is allowed in and not the people? ILLEGAL,” Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., said in a social media post. In another post, he said armed federal officers were called to the scene.
“We aren’t dangerous,” Frost said. “We are here to represent our people. To defend public education. This is an authoritarian regime.”
The incident comes as President Donald Trump reportedly considers using an executive order to abolish the department, an issue he campaigned on during the 2024 election.
“We’re ranked number one in cost per pupil, so we spend more per pupil than any other country in the world, and we’re ranked at the bottom of the list,” Trump has said. “We’re ranked very badly. And what I want to do is let the states run schools.”
Shutting down the Department of Education would require an act of Congress. The department administers congressionally appropriated funding and provides oversight for K-12 schools, administers student loans and grants, and creates federal rules.
Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., said the congress members came to the Department of Education on Friday after sending a letter signed by 94 lawmakers asking acting Secretary Denise Carter to “stand up to Donald Trump” by refusing to obey the potential executive order.
“The executive branch is the executive branch and they’re choosing to willfully keep the people’s representatives out, asking a legitimate Constitutional question,” Takano said in an interview with NewsNation.
Along with the Education Department, Trump and billionaire ally Elon Musk have moved to eradicate the U.S. Agency for International Development. Democrats tried Monday to enter USAID headquarters but were blocked from the building by officers.
NewsNation digital producer Steph Whiteside the Associated Press contributed to this report.