The prolonged government shutdown is helping the Trump administration advance its goal of closing the Department of Education — a longtime conservative aim that congressional Republicans have failed to act on.

The agency had already reduced its staff by half earlier this year. Now, blaming the shutdown, the Education Department is trying to lay off another 465 people, cutting deeply into multiple offices. That includes federal officials who oversee special education programs and another round of slashing at the Office for Civil Rights.

Some parts of the agency would be nearly hollowed out.

“There’s something opportunistic about what we’re watching right now,” said Jim Blew, who served in a senior position at the Education Department during the first Trump administration. “These guys hav

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