US President Donald Trump has announced plans to sign an executive order instructing his newly confirmed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to dismantle the department she now leads.

Trump, 78, promised to decentralize education as he campaigned for a return to the White House, saying he would devolve the department’s powers to state governments.

According to report, the US Department of Education, which was established in 1979 under former president Jimmy Carter, by law, cannot be shuttered without Congress passing an act with 60 votes in favor in the Senate.

Reports also say that the Republican leader’s threat to shut down the education department has angered Democrats, teachers’ unions and many parents, who see it as an attack on the public education system.

Meanwhile, McMahon, a 76-year-old businesswoman who formerly served as CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, said at a Senate education committee hearing last month that the excessive consolidation of power in Washington was damaging education.