In 2025, President Donald Trump signed an order shrinking the Department of Education

Learn about the political history of the Department of Education

The Department of Education, created in 1980, has faced calls for elimination since day one. Though it contributes a small portion of K-12 funding, it plays a vital role in civil rights enforcement, federal grant distribution, and education research—making its existence and work symbolically controversial.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in 2025 to restrict birthright citizenship

In 2025, President Trump signed an order attempting to end automatic citizenship for children born to undocumented immigrants or temporary visa holders—limiting it to those with a US citizen or permanent resident parent.

DOGE was an advisory body President Trump created via executive order in his second term

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was not an official government department, as those can only be established by Congress. Trump created DOGE to reduce government spending, tapping Elon Musk to run it. Musk left the Trump administration and his role in DOGE in May 2025, and DOGE disbanded a few months later, in November. The informal advisory board helped cut 270,000 jobs during its time in operation.

Autism research has faced significant cuts under Trump

One of the largest areas of halted research was at the Department of Education where its Institute of Education Sciences had studies underway focused on developing and evaluating school-based interventions for students with autism. DOE was significantly cut back as part of federal government layoffs.

President Trump tore down the East Wing in October 2025 to build a new ballroom

In October 2025, Donald Trump commenced demolition of the historic East Wing of the White House to clear space for a privately funded, 90,000-square-foot ballroom. The project drew criticism from preservationists and public officials.

The government has said Title IX does not protect transgender athletes or apply to athlete pay

In early 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transgender women from college athletics, suggesting the move was in line with Title IX compliance. A week later, the Department of Education said Title IX does not require equitable distribution of name, image, and likeness payments to athletes. Both instances reverse former President Joe Biden’s interpretations of the law.

President Trump has changed decades-long norms for the DOJ during his second term

The Trump administration made changes to ethics oversight, instructed US attorneys to coordinate with the White House, dismissed cases, and overhauled the career hiring process in the Civil Rights division. The administration asserts these changes were justified and aimed to end what they claim as the weaponization of government.

How the Trump administration explained the firing of the NSF's National Science Board

The White House argued that the April 24, 2026, decision resulted from the 2021 US v. Arthrex Supreme Court ruling, which "set limits on the powers of executive branch officials who are not Senate-confirmed" and therefore conflicts with the law that created the NSB. As of May 2026, the administration has yet to explain its next steps for the advisory arm of the National Science Foundation, which has lost about a third of its staff since the start of 2025.

What Trump's executive order provides TikTok

Just a few days into his second term, President Trump paused the US law banning TikTok through an executive order. While that may sound like an all-out reversal, it's more of a time out, granting ByteDance an additional 75 days to find a US-based seller. This resource breaks down what Trump's executive order provides the Chinese company and what it might mean for the future of the app.

The United States faces a sizeable teacher shortage

Teacher vacancies have surged since 2017, with each year opening more positions than hires. Educators are quitting in record numbers, citing low pay and burnout. Today, there are 567,000 fewer education professionals than before the pandemic.

US school distrists have greatly consolidated since 1940

Consolidation significantly decreased the number of independent school districts from approximately 117,000 in 1940 to just over 13,000 today, mainly driven by efforts to boost efficiency and balance funding across communities.

Presidents now rely on executive agreements instead of formal treaties

Formal treaties—requiring two-thirds Senate approval—have become rare in American foreign policy. Modern presidents increasingly use executive agreements, which don't need congressional consent, allowing faster diplomacy but reducing legislative oversight and transparency.

President Trump ordered an end to US production of the penny in 2025

The US will stop producing pennies after more than 233 years in 2026, though they will still be considered legal tender. It takes roughly three cents to produce a single penny, with an annual price tag of nearly $100M.

A primer on USAID under the Trump Administration

The Congressional Research Service is a nonpartisan group dedicated solely to responding to questions and providing deeply researched explanations to members of Congress and their staff. The overview lays out the establishment of the US Agency for International Development in 1961, legal restrictions on its elimination, and options to restructure or fold USAID into other departments.

In the 1950s, the federal government tried to dissolve tribal nations and end their sovereignty

A federal policy called "termination" withdrew official recognition from more than 100 tribes in the 1950s, cutting off federal services and subjecting reservation land to state taxes and sale.

The Office of Air and Radiation oversees America's clean air and climate programs

The office develops and enforces national standards for air quality, vehicle emissions, and radiation protection. In 2025, the EPA announced the closure of two key divisions under the office responsible for regulating climate and air pollution: the Office of Atmospheric Protection and the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.

The US government has shut down 22 times since 1976

This resource breaks down every federal shutdown since 1976, showing how long each lasted and the budget disputes that caused them—revealing how routine funding failures have become in modern US politics.

A 2013 Supreme Court case weakened federal oversight of redistricting

In Shelby County v. Holder, the Supreme Court struck down the Voting Rights Act's preclearance formula, reducing federal oversight of voting laws—including redistricting—and allowing changes to take effect without prior approval.

The president can federalize state National Guard units during national emergencies

While the governor usually commands their state's National Guard, the president can assume control—federalizing the guard—under laws like the Insurrection Act or Title 10. Once federalized, troops operate under the US military chain of command.

During COVID-19, the Fed made drastic moves in attempts to shore up the US economy called quantitative easing

The Fed took an aggressive approach to help the US economy during COVID-19 beyond standard monetary levers, including broad purchases of mortgage-backed securities, Treasury securities, and more.

As of 2024, Macy’s wanted to monetize its store closures through real estate deals

In a 2024 earnings call, Macy’s noted that while it’s remodeling and investing in some of its brick-and-mortar locations, it seeks to shutter other stores in lower-performing locations. It’s estimated that Macy's will close 150 locations through 2026.

FDR changed the date of Thanksgiving, then changed it back

In the waning years of the Great Depression, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt attempted to move Thanksgiving up by a week, giving merchants a longer holiday shopping season. After pushback from lawmakers, he reversed course in 1941, permanently fixing the date of Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November.

President Reagan postponed the State of the Union after Challenger

In his Oval Office address delivered the night of the disaster, President Ronald Reagan spoke directly to the nation about the loss of Challenger and its crew, postponing that evening's scheduled State of the Union to address the tragedy.

Klaus Schwab resigned from the World Economic Forum in 2025

Schwab stepped down as chair of the World Economic Forum in 2025 amid reports and internal scrutiny over alleged improper use of Forum resources and workplace culture issues, ending more than five decades at the organization’s helm. The board later reshaped its leadership structure to a more institutional model rather than a founder-centric model.

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

The USPS spent $3.97B in 2024, accounting for .058% of the federal budget.

Roughly 43 million US borrowers owe roughly $1.7T in student debt, the second-largest source of consumer debt behind mortgages.

Before the current East Wing ballroom project, only two White House renovations in the past 100 years cost more than $10M.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

The United States is one of only around two dozen countries with a fully federal system of government, in which power is divided between national and state governments.

The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with Cuba since its 1959 revolution, highlighted by a nuclear crisis and a decades-long trade embargo.

In 1945, Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí and legendary animator Walt Disney began collaborating on a short film that was not completed until 2003, years after both men had died.

View the ten deadliest tornadoes in US history.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

Alzheimer's can lead to brain shrinkage, with an average of around 2% of volume reduction per year

In recent years a child anxiety expert has created and tested a novel phobia and anxiety treatment approach for children, focused on changing how parents respond to the fears.

Fireworks-related ER visits are on the rise—in 2024, they increased by 52% as compared to the prior year.

The 2026 Ebola outbreak is hampered by a lack of vaccine against the species of the virus, heightening the need for rapid tests to aid in disease control.

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

In 1984, Operation Smash Hit intentionally crashed a 239-ton train into a nuclear waste canister at 100 miles per hour to prove the canister's safety, which remained completely intact and lost just 0.29 of its 100 pounds of pressure.

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

Sears sold DIY house kits starting at $600 in its famous catalog from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in roughly 10,000 'Sears and Roebuck houses' being built.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

The use of fungi to detoxify land and water—a process known as mycoremediation—has been used to clean up natural resources affected by the 2025 California wildfires.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

To reduce wrinkles in clothing, research recommends gentle wash cycles with more water and tumble drying with smaller loads and longer times.

Meet the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence—most of whom didn't put pen to paper until August 2, 1776—and see their original signatures.