McMahon says federal school aid will keep flowing as Education Department hands off some duties to other agencies

Education Secretary Linda McMahon told CBS News on Tuesday that federal money to support low-income students and special education will continue to flow as the Education Department shifts some of its grant programs to other agencies, amid the Trump administration's push to wind down the department altogether.

The agency announced Tuesday that the Department of Labor will now manage many of the Education Department's grants to elementary and secondary schools, including the Title I program, which hands out billions of dollars to aid schools with large numbers of low-income students. 

A handful of other shifts were also unveiled Tuesday. Certain higher education grants will be moved to the Department of Labor, the Department of the Interior will now handle Native American education grants, the State Department will run some international education programs, and the Department of Health and Human Services will take over a small child care grant program and a panel that reviews foreign medical schools.

McMahon said the department has not decided how to handle some of its other major responsibilities, including its special education grants and its Office for Civil Rights.

But programs that support low-income students, students with special needs and civil rights will remain in place, even if they're moved to different agencies, McMahon told CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett on "The Takeout."

"They will all still be done," McMahon said. "They were done before there was a Department of Education, and they will continue to be done."

"Special education will not be abandoned," McMahon added.

She said the Education Department will still oversee the programs that are being moved to other agencies, and their funding will come from the department's budget.

McMahon said permanently moving the Education Department's responsibilities elsewhere would require congressional approval. But the department has argued that it does have the legal authority to essentially contract out some of its duties to other parts of the federal government.

She referred to the moves as a "pilot program" and a "proof of concept."