ECNETNews – A Senate committee has taken a significant step by advancing the nomination of Linda McMahon to serve as the next education secretary, a position crucial to the Trump administration’s goal of potentially dismantling the Department of Education.
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions voted 12-11 along party lines to send McMahon’s nomination to the full Senate for consideration.
During her confirmation hearing, McMahon expressed a desire to “reorient” the Education Department, which has been targeted by President Trump for possible elimination. However, McMahon acknowledged the role of Congress in any complete shutdown of the agency.
“We’d like to ensure that we are presenting a plan that our senators could support,” she remarked.
In response to questions regarding the agency’s primary initiatives, McMahon indicated that while Trump aims for greater efficiency, the intent is not to defund programs. She mentioned the potential transfer of certain departmental roles to other agencies, including moving the civil rights division to the Justice Department.
McMahon committed to safeguarding federal Title I funding for low-income schools, Pell Grants for needy college students, and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, all established by Congress.
At the same time, she vowed to withhold federal funds from educational institutions that fail to comply with Trump’s directives regarding transgender athletes in women’s sports, campus antisemitism, and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
Democratic senators expressed concern over McMahon’s responses regarding Trump’s directive on banning DEI programs in schools. When asked if African American history classes could jeopardize federal funding, McMahon hesitated, stating she needed further investigation.
With a background as a billionaire and former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, McMahon’s experience in educational matters is limited. Her tenure on the Connecticut board of education was brief, and she has pursued two unsuccessful U.S. Senate bids in Connecticut since leaving WWE in 2009.
While Republicans largely supported McMahon during the hearing, some, like Sen. Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, voiced apprehensions that Trump might instruct McMahon to overstep her authority, potentially intervening in local educational governance.
The White House is reportedly contemplating an order instructing the education secretary to begin dismantling the Education Department while pushing Congress to fully abolish it.
In the context of these developments, the Trump administration has already dismissed or suspended over 100 Education Department employees, with numerous contracts canceled under the Department of Government Efficiency.
