Sen. Marsha Blackburn pushes to relocate U.S. education department to Tennessee

Jason Gonzales
The Tennessean

In a proposal filed Wednesday, Tennessee U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn is calling for the government to relocate the U.S. Department of Education to the Volunteer State.

Blackburn,along with fellow Republican Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced the Helping Infrastructure Restore the Economy (HIRE) Act, which says it would move most federal agencies out of Washington, D.C. and into economically-distressed regions across the country.

“Moving agencies outside of Washington, D.C. both boosts local economies and lowers costs — that’s a winning combination,” said Blackburn in a news release.

The bill follows a recent announcement of a plan by the Bureau of Land Management to move to Colorado, the release says. As well, two Department of Agriculture agencies moving to Kansas City. 

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn speaks at the 2020 presidential debate announcement Oct. 11, 2019, at Curb Event Center at Belmont University in Nashville.

According to the release, the HIRE Act would move 90% of the positions in 10 executive departments. The departments targeted are:

  • Agriculture — Missouri
  • Commerce — Pennsylvania
  • Education — Tennessee
  • Energy — Kentucky
  • Health and Human Services — Indiana
  • Housing and Urban Development — Ohio
  • Interior — New Mexico
  • Labor — West Virginia
  • Transportation — Michigan
  • Veteran Affairs — South Carolina

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Reach Jason Gonzales at jagonzales@tennessean.com and on Twitter @ByJasonGonzales.