It's Wednesday, March 12th.
I'm Jane Coston, and this is Whataday, the show that congratulates President Donald Trump on his new Tesla, which he purchased in front of the White House in a commercial that might not help Tesla's slumping sales.
Hello, President Trump.
Are you looking to buy or lease today?
Well, I'm gonna buy, and I'm gonna.
Buy because, number one, it's a great.
Product, as good as it gets.
And number two, because this man has devoted his energy and his life to doing this.
I think he's been treated very unfri by a very small group of people.
He had notes on how much a Tesla costs and everything, because, of course, he did.
This isn't desperate, not at all.
On today's show, the House passed a bill to avert a partial government shutdown.
And Ukraine says it's ready to negotiate a ceasefire with Russia.
But let's start by talking about education and the Department of Education.
On Tuesday, the Department of Education announced that as part of its, quote, final mission, the agency laid off roughly half of its workforce after nearly 600 people accepted deferred resignations and buyouts.
In a statement, Education department secretary Linda McMahon said, this is a significant step toward restoring the greatness of the United States education system.
Sure, I guess.
President Donald Trump campaigned on getting rid of the Department of Education and sending the agency's responsibilities to other federal departments or back to the states.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Trump had even prepared an executive order shuttering the department entirely.
But legal experts say truly closing the department would require an act of Congress.