'I'll Take It': Democratic Governor Expresses Conditional Support For Eliminating Department Of Education

As President Donald Trump continues pursuing his stated goal of getting rid of the U.S. Department of Education, the usual gang of Democratic lawmakers, teachers union representatives, and federal bureaucrats have railed against the effort.

One rare exception, however, appears to be Democratic Hawaii Gov. Josh Green.

Though he certainly didn’t offer an enthusiastic endorsement of Trump’s policy, Green did admit that he might support the elimination of the agency — with a caveat.

The exchange came during his recent appearance on NewsNation, per Breitbart:

Host Blake Burman asked, “So, it’s kind of interesting, because I essentially just heard the Republican president basically say, give it to the states, the governors are doing a great job. You’re a Democratic Governor. So, that’s a Republican president saying, yeah, let the Democrat, Gov. Green, in Hawaii handle Hawaii. Do you object to that?”

Green answered, “No, I’ll take it. I spent time with the president a couple of weeks ago with all the other governors. If that money flows to we governors, we’ll make good use of it. Just for perspective for those watching, 11%, right now, of my entire budget on education is from the federal government. I need those dollars for, like, special education for kids with autism, for so many needs, for meals in our schools. So, if the dollars flow to us and we get rid of some bureaucracy, I think governors will welcome the resource. We have to be a little careful because it’s a big, big department.”

Countless other Americans are excited about the prospect in the wake of widespread layoffs within the DOE:

The department of education is getting their pink slips today. It's about damn time.

Give it back to the states! pic.twitter.com/HpRIgHbV7P

— Sassafrass84 (@Sassafrass_84) March 11, 2025

The Department of Education is cutting 50% of their workforce.

Me: pic.twitter.com/NwropKlanS

— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) March 11, 2025

This is why the Department of Education needs dismantled! 🎯 pic.twitter.com/U2vXM0HQ0y

— 🔥🇺🇸 KC 🇺🇸🔥 (@KCPayTreeIt) March 11, 2025

The Hill also reported on Green’s recent interview:

Green’s comments came a day after the Department of Education unveiled that it was firing nearly half its workforce. The move by the department followed other Trump administration efforts to reshape the federal government drastically.

“The dream is we’re going to move the Department of Education, we’re going to move education into the states, so that the states, instead of bureaucrats working in Washington, so that the states can run education,” Trump said on Wednesday.

“We think when you move it back to Iowa and Indiana and all of the states that run so well … 30, maybe almost 40, those will be as good as Denmark, those will be as good as Norway,” the president added.

Here’s a full clip of the interview: