U.S. Rep. Michael Rulli plans to introduce legislation in the coming days that would enforce President Donald Trump’s executive order to dismantle the federal Department of Education.

Rulli, R-Salem, said Tuesday he’s been working on drafts of the proposed bill, making changes, and it could be introduced in the U.S. House as soon as Friday. If there are delays, it might be proposed Monday or Tuesday, he said.

“It’s all about the language,” Rulli said. “We’re trying to avoid pitfalls and be compassionate with it. We want to codify the elimination of the Department of Education.”

Trump, a Republican, signed an executive order last week to begin the elimination of the department, created by Congress in 1979. But only Congress has the power to close the department.

Rulli, who attended Trump’s executive order signing event ceremony Thursday, said his Education Restoration Act would guarantee that the DOE’s budget, which is $268 billion, would go to states and local school districts.

“The holdup is making sure it comes back to school districts,” he said. “I want to make sure that it is codified. I don’t want it going back to the U.S. Treasury coffers. I need this allocated to the states.”

A member of the House Education & Workforce Committee, Rulli used to serve on the Leetonia Board of Education.

Rulli said: “If someone came up to me when I was on the school board and said, ‘Hey, Rulli, I can get you $3, 4, 5, 6 million extra for your school district just by eliminating the Department of Education that didn’t exist before, I’d be happy to take it. It isn’t a weaponization or deterioration of education. If anything, I want to give power back to the local school districts where it belongs.”

He added: “If you’re in the opposition party and you are reading this bill and losing your mind, you have to realize the Department of Education doesn’t actually provide anything to service the (611) school districts we have in Ohio. They don’t give you anything at all if you are a local school district. It doesn’t help you at all.”

Federal funding makes up about 14% of public school budgets, according to the Associated Press.

Rulli attended Trump’s DOE executive order event. The order directed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the states and local communities while ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs and benefits on which Americans rely.”

U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, introduced a bill to terminate the department by Dec. 31, 2026.

Even before Trump signed the executive order, U.S. Rep. David Rouzer, a North Carolina Republican, introduced a bill to transfer most of the DOE’s responsibilities to other federal agencies.

Rulli said his bill would ensure that school districts that receive Title I funds would still receive that money. Title I provides money to schools with high numbers of students from low-income families to help them receive a fair and equitable education.

If Rulli’s bill moves through committee and makes it to a House floor vote, it is likely to be approved by the Republican-controlled legislative body.

But with 60 votes needed for passage in the Senate — which has 53 Republicans — it is going to be more challenging, which Rulli acknowledges.

“I have to almost write this for the Senate approval and so there’s poisonous pills that are in some of the language that I’ve already been shopping it around saying, ‘Hey, what’s going to kill this in the Senate?” Rulli said. “If I can get a version to get those votes in the Senate, I’ve got quality policy.”

Rulli said, “The No. 1 goal is to make sure the money goes back to the local schools. My philosophy on this sounds really good. But if I can’t make the philosophy tangible, what kind of bill is this? I think that’s the only way I win the day. If I can secure that where that is channeled right to the locals and that’s a huge W for us, especially the kids.”

Democrats have spoken in opposition to Trump’s executive order to eliminate the DOE.

Katie Seewer, an Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman, said: “Ohio’s students are our state’s future, but their elected officials are cheering as billionaires rip away their access to a quality education,” and “our elected officials should be standing up for students, but they can’t even stand up to Donald Trump.”

Also, two lawsuits were filed to stop Trump’s executive order from being enacted. One was filed by a coalition of the National Education Association and the NAACP, and the other was filed by the American Federation of Teachers with other unions.

NEA President Becky Pringle said: “Cutting the Department of Education will hurt all students by sending class sizes soaring, cutting job training programs, making higher education more out of reach, taking away special education services for students with disabilities, and gutting student civil rights protections.”

dskolnick@vindy.com