U.S. President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Thursday that aims to shut down the Department of Education, fulfilling a key campaign pledge, the White House said in a fact sheet on the measure.

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."