WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order Thursday calling for the shutdown of the U.S. Education Department, according to a White House official, advancing a campaign promise to eliminate an agency that’s been a longtime target of conservatives.

A White House fact sheet said the order would direct Secretary Linda McMahon “to take all necessary steps" to close the department and "return education authority to the States."

The order will lay the groundwork for eventually shuttering the agency, reassigning some of its primary duties.