WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump will sign a long-anticipated executive order on Thursday that aims to shut down the Department of Education, acting on a key campaign pledge, according to a White House summary seen by Reuters.

The move was already being challenged by a group of Democratic state attorneys general, who filed a lawsuit seeking to block Trump from dismantling the department and halt the layoffs of nearly half of its staff announced last week.

Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk have attempted to shut down government programs and institutions such as the US Agency for International Development without congressional approval, but abolishing the Department of Education would be Trump's first attempt to shut down a cabinet-level agency.

Trump cannot shutter the agency without congressional legislation, which could prove difficult. Trump's Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, but major legislation, such as a bill eliminating a cabinet-level agency, would need 60 votes and thus the support of seven Democrats to pass.

Senate Democrats have given no sign they would support abolishing the Education Department.

The order directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to "take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure (of) the Department of Education and return education authority to the States, while continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely."

It also mandates that any programs or activities receiving remaining Department of Education funds should not "advance DEI or gender ideology," according to the White House summary.

Trump has repeatedly called for eliminating the department, calling it "a big con job." He proposed shuttering it in his first term as president, but Congress did not act