Aaron Withe Statement on President Trump’s Executive Order to Eliminate Education Department

Aaron Withe
March 21, 2025

Dallas, TX – Freedom Foundation CEO Aaron Withe issued the following statement regarding President Trump’s executive order to eliminate the Department of Education:

“The Department of Education has failed America’s children, parents, and communities for more than four decades. Established by President Jimmy Carter as a political favor to the National Education Association, this federal bureaucracy has eroded local control of education while delivering declining results and ever-increasing budgets.

“Bureaucrats in Washington cannot possibly understand the specific challenges facing students in rural Idaho, urban Chicago, or suburban Florida, yet they impose uniform mandates that treat all schools and students identically.

“Perhaps most troubling has been the outsized influence of national teachers unions on education policy. These powerful special interests have consistently prioritized their radical left-wing agenda over student achievement, blocking meaningful reforms while protecting a status quo that serves union bosses rather than our children.

“Abolishing the Department of Education also represents a bold return to our constitutional principles. Our Founders understood that decisions about how to educate children are best made by those closest to them—parents, local educators, and community leaders who understand their unique needs and values. By eliminating this unnecessary federal department, we have the opportunity to free states and local districts from burdensome regulations and finally shrink the excessive power of teachers unions.”

- Press Release
, AFT, Janus v. AFSCME, NEA, Teacher Unions

Aaron Withe

Chief Executive Officer

Aaron Withe is the Chief Executive Officer of the Freedom Foundation. Aaron began his career at the Freedom Foundation in 2015, working in the outreach department. He devised a full-scale outreach campaign that included having a team of door-to-door canvassers contact all union members throughout Oregon and inform them of their rights to leave their union. After various promotions the Freedom Foundation’s Board of Directors appointed Aaron as the CEO in 2021. As an immigrant-turned-U.S. citizen, Aaron recognizes America as the freest and most prosperous country in the world. However, he also recognizes the very real threat posed by the government unions attacking the foundations of the American dream. This is what fuels Aaron as he now leads the Freedom Foundation’s national campaign to free every public employee in America from union bondage. Aaron is the author of the book Freedom is the Foundation: How we are defeating progressive tyranny by taking on the government unions. Aaron has been a featured speaker for the Freedom Foundation at a multitude of events, including the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) 2019. He was the proud recipient of the Oregon Taxpayer Association’s 2019 Thomas Jefferson Award. He was formerly on the Washington & Oregon Advisory Committees to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. And he is a member of the American Enterprise Institute’s (AEI) Leadership Network. Aaron has often shared the Freedom Foundation’s message on TV, including appearances on Fox News, Fox Business, One America News, Newsmax, and The Huckabee Show on TBN. He has been featured on several national and local radio shows, including Sean Hannity and Lars Larson, and in print media outlets across the country, including the Wall Street Journal, the Hill, and the Daily Wire. He is a native of Birmingham, England, and is a graduate and former basketball player at Corban University in Oregon. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his wife Aubree and their daughter Amelia, as well as with their extended family and friends. He is active of his church and enjoys relaxing at several Pacific North West’s microbreweries. As an immigrant-turned-U.S. citizen, Aaron recognizes America as the freest and most prosperous country in the world. However, he also recognizes the very real threat posed by the government unions attacking the foundations of the American dream. This is what fuels Aaron as he now leads the Freedom Foundation’s national campaign to free every public employee in America from union bondage. Aaron has been a featured speaker for the Freedom Foundation at a multitude of events, including the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) 2019. He was the proud recipient of the Oregon Taxpayer Association’s 2019 Thomas Jefferson Award. He was formerly on the Washington & Oregon Advisory Committees to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. And he is a member of the American Enterprise Institute’s (AEI) Leadership Network. Aaron has often shared the Freedom Foundation’s message on TV, including appearances Fox News, One America News, Newsmax, and The Huckabee Show on TBN. He has been featured on several national and local radio shows including Sean Hannity and Lars Larson and in print media outlets across the country including the Wall Street Journal and Daily Wire. He is a native of Birmingham, England, and is a graduate and former basketball player at Corban University in Oregon. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends, staying active in many different sports and at the gym, he is active in his church and enjoys relaxing at several of the Pacific North West’s microbreweries.