| | | |  | | By Bethany Irvine | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | 
Donald Trump officially will will sign an executive order aimed at dismantled the Department of Education. | Getty Images | SCHOOL’S OUT — We are just hours away from the Trump administration’s latest step in their effort to eliminate the executive department that governs the nation’s education system — and Washington is still struggling to make sense of what the fallout might look like. Trump will officially put pen to paper at 4 p.m. today at a signing ceremony that’s expected to include several Republican governors, state officials and education commissioners. The White House says the president’s executive order will direct Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely” while clearing the way for its closure. But how, exactly, McMahon is going to ensure there is no shortfall while winding down the department’s crucial programs remains up in the air. As AP’s Collin Binkley and Chris Megerian report, the department handles “$1.6 trillion in federal student loans and billions of dollars in programs for colleges and school districts” around the country and makes up “14% of public school budgets, often for supplemental programs for vulnerable students.” The White House has repeatedly blamed poor test scores as justification to shutter the agency, with White House spokesperson Harrison Fields claiming the order “will empower parents, states and communities to take control and improve outcomes for all students,” WaPo’s Laura Meckler reports. “But administration officials have not explained how reducing the federal role in education will improve outcomes.” How the move will even get past Congress is also unclear. Formally nixing the department would require an act of Congress, and several lawmakers have already balked at the idea. But at an Oval Office meeting last month, Trump suggested he could get enough lawmakers’ support, and added: “We’d have to work with the teachers union, because the teachers union is the only one that’s opposed to it.” Still, Trump’s gutting of the department’s funding and staff could make it all but effectively defunct — just as he did with USAID and CFPB. And on the higher education side … The Trump administration’s targeting of pro-Gaza activists and attack on funding at college campuses speaks to a much broader change for education in America, NYT’s Alan Blinder reports: “Universities are laying off workers, imposing hiring freezes, shutting down laboratories and facing federal investigations. … The sobering reality for university leaders is that Mr. Trump has the administrative upper hand, and academia has startlingly few vocal allies.” Trump’s ongoing crackdown on visa holders and new “extreme vetting” measures are also playing out beyond academia, with border agents recently detaining visa holders for lengthy periods over minor issues, WSJ’s Tarini Parti and Michelle Hackman report: “Among them: a German national with a U.S. green card, who needed to be transported to the hospital after his mother said he was strip-searched during questioning. Another, a tourist who was shackled and chained, was detained after a routine stop driving into the U.S. from Mexico.” WELCOME HOME — In a major victory for the White House, the Taliban has released American George Glezmann after two years in Afghanistan in exchange for improved diplomatic relationship with the U.S., AP’s Eric Tucker reports. Glezmann, a Delta Air Lines mechanic, was touring Afghanistan in 2022 when he was abducted by the group. Glezzmann’s release follows negotiations mediated by Qatar and comes just two months after the Biden administration secured the freedom of Americans Ryan Corbett and William McKenty. Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote in a statement this morning that “Glezmann was on his way back to the United States to be reunited with his wife, Aleksandra.” He added: “George’s release is a positive and constructive step. It is also a reminder that other Americans are still detained in Afghanistan. President Trump will continue his tireless work to free ALL Americans unjustly detained around the world.” Why now? In prior negotiations, the Taliban demanded that America hand over imprisoned organization members in exchange for Glezzman’s release. But their new stance “is a marked departure from negotiations during the Biden administration” and “it appears the Taliban has let Glezmann go to catalyze talks that might, eventually, end Afghanistan’s international isolation,” WSJ’s Alex Ward and Anat Peled report. We’ll have to wait to see how those talks could play out — or what diplomatic tradeoffs may lie ahead for the remaining Americans in Afghanistan. Good Thursday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at birvine@politico.com.
| | | | A message from Comcast: Comcast invests billions each year in maintaining and expanding our network capabilities to deliver a superior experience each and every day for millions of people. We've invested $80B in our network and infrastructure in the last 10 years. Connecting people now and into the future. Learn more. | | | | AFTERNOON READ — In a smart dive on Trump’s fight against the independent judiciary, POLITICO Mag’s Ankush Khardori speaks with Shira Scheindlin, a former federal judge in Manhattan, to discuss what a judge can do if the White House deliberately defies the federal court — specifically in the ongoing case over the deportation of Venezuelan nationals under the Alien Enemies Act. If that happens, Scheindlin notes: “I think the only real option is civil contempt. … If you want to charge them with criminal contempt, you have to get the U.S. Attorney’s office or Main Justice to prosecute, and clearly the Trump Justice Department, or the Bondi Justice Department, is not going to prosecute.”
| | 6 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | | 
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will join Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on a tour through western states starting today. | Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images | 1. WHAT’S IN A NAME?: As the Democratic Party works to find its footing amid the new GOP-led era, lawmakers are facing major backlash from their constituents beyond the beltway. But that’s not stopping some progressives from hitting the road. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will join Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on a tour through western states starting today, and Sanders has an idea for his fellow progressives: Join him in running as an independent, instead of as a Democrat. NYT’s Reid Epstein reports. A long-time independent, Sanders noted the tour was a part of a push “to try to rally people to get engaged in the political process,” adding: “There’s a lot of great leadership all over this country at the grass-roots level. We’ve got to bring that forward.” Also on the road: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is working to reimagine his future and only recently started to publicly address his and Kamala Harris’ 2024 loss on his national town hall tour, CNN’s Edward-Isaac Dovere reports from Wisconsin. 2. WALK IT BACK: As the Trump administration continues its tit-for-tat tariff battle, the European Union has taken a step back on its retaliatory tariffs: delaying their planned measures on American whiskey and other goods from March 31 until mid-April, NYT’s Jeanna Smialek reports from Brussels. An EU spokesperson confirmed this morning that the group hopes the postponement will allow more time for negotiations with the U.S and “strike the right balance of products, taking into account the interests of E.U. producers, exporters and consumers.” And from the West Wing: Trump signaled he may be levying new tariffs against India. In an interview with Breitbart News, Trump called India “one of the highest tariffing nations in the world,” adding “I believe they’re … probably going to be lowering those tariffs substantially, but on April 2, we will be charging them the same tariffs they charge us.” More per AP’s Aamer Madhani 3. GOING NUCLEAR: Trump has floated the idea of taking over Ukraine’s nuclear power plants to ward off further aggression by Russia. But if Ukraine’s largest nuclear facility is any indication, it won't be an easy feat, WSJ’s Ian Lovett and Laurence Norman report: The Zaporizhzhia power station was seized by Russia in the first few weeks of the war and any takeover would require “prying the plant away from Russian President Vladimir Putin … Perched along the Dnipro River, which serves as the front line in the area, the 6-gigawatt plant is visible from Ukrainian-held territory and remains encircled by Russian land mines.” 4. REGULATION STATION: Trump’s dismissal of two Federal Trade Commissioners on Tuesday sent waves through the tech industry and among former FTC staff — who fear an overreach of the executive branch could weaponize the once-independent regulatory agency, WaPo’s Julian Mark and Will Oremus report. The recent dismissals “means there will be no Democrats to publish dissenting opinions that could contradict or undermine the logic behind a Republican-led decision. …Trump tightening his grip on the FTC also could undermine its credibility with courts and trading partners, experts warn.” 5. COUNTERING BEIJING: Lawmakers fear the elimination of the bipartisan-backed Open Technology Fund, which was caught up in Trump’s latest budget slash, “could put millions at risk of being targeted by authoritarian governments for their internet activity,” WaPo’s Pranshu Verma reports: “As of February, OTF funding provided tools to more than 6 million people in China and 18 million individuals in Iran, giving them the ability to circumvent government restrictions on the internet to access news sites, secure messaging services and social media platforms.” An uncertain future: “The OTF’s grant termination has prompted members of Congress from both parties to contact the Trump administration to support the program … Officials are trying to find ways to preserve the organization’s work, but it is unclear whether efforts will be successful.” 6. EMPIRE STATE OF MIND: “New York state’s top court blocks New York City law to allow noncitizen voting,” by POLITICO’s Bill Mahoney: “The law would have made more than 800,000 people eligible to vote in municipal contests such as mayoral races. … Republicans argued the state constitution prohibits all noncitizens from casting ballots. Democrats … who defended the law said the constitution’s language should be viewed as a floor rather than a ceiling.”
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Learn more about how Comcast is investing in essential infrastructure powering our lives. | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | Barack Obama put out his March Madness bracket. IN MEMORIAM — “K.W. Lee, Journalist Who Gave a Voice to Asian American Communities, Dies at 96,” by NYT’s Trip Gabriel: “Mr. Lee, who was sometimes described as the dean of Asian American journalism, took a top job in the so-called ethnic press after years as an investigative reporter at mainstream newspapers, most notably The Sacramento Union, which he joined in 1970. … In 1979 he was a founder of the short-lived Koreatown Weekly, in Los Angeles, and in 1990 he became the editor of Korea Times’s English edition.” MEDIA MOVE — Niketa Patel is now executive director and CEO of the Online News Association. She previously was senior director of leadership programs at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, and is a CNN and The 19th alum. TRANSITIONS — Akash Chougule will be president of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity. He previously was VP of government affairs at Americans for Prosperity. … Rachel Skaar is now comms director for the Solar Energy Industries Association. She previously was deputy comms director for the Senate Environment and Public Works Dems, and is a Michael Bennet alum. … Alice Burns is now chief of staff at the Ronald Reagan Institute. She previously was director of major events at the McCain Institute, and is a Lindsey Graham alum. BONUS BIRTHDAY: POLITICO’s Matilde Baggio Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn’t happen without our deputy editor Zack Stanton and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
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