WASHINGTON — U.S. schooling secretary nominee Linda McMahon informed a Senate panel Thursday that, if confirmed, she wouldn’t defund public colleges however would search to reform the U.S. Division of Schooling by decreasing federal paperwork and bringing colleges again to the fundamentals of studying and math.
“We’re failing our college students, our Division of Schooling, and what we’re doing at this time will not be working, and we have to change it,” McMahon mentioned.
Nonetheless, when requested about some particular adjustments she would make to Schooling Division programming, McMahon mentioned, if confirmed, she would consider division capabilities earlier than making suggestions. She mentioned she would “reorient the division towards serving to educators, not controlling them.”
The two ½-hour affirmation listening to, held by the Committee on Well being, Schooling, Labor and Pensions, was briefly interrupted 5 instances by folks protesting McMahon’s nomination. The Republican-controlled Senate is anticipated to approve McMahon’s nomination within the coming days.
McMahon’s affirmation listening to comes amid drastic adjustments on the Schooling Division. President Donald Trump has already issued varied government orders that severely restrict federal funding, prohibit actions associated to range, fairness and inclusion, and name for an finish to “indoctrination” in Okay-12 colleges, which he mentioned contains “gender ideology and discriminatory fairness ideology.”
Trump can also be anticipated to difficulty an government order that may considerably cut back the Schooling Division’s authority and duty within the federal authorities.
In fiscal 12 months 2024, the Schooling Division acquired $79.1 billion from Congress. Lawmakers have but to approve FY 2025 funding.
Among the many Schooling Division’s obligations is managing $1.6 trillion in greater schooling scholar loans.
A protester disrupts Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be U.S. schooling secretary, as she testifies throughout her Senate Well being, Schooling, Labor and Pensions Committee affirmation listening to on Capitol Hill on Feb. 13, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Kayla Bartkowski through Getty Pictures
Trump nominated McMahon simply weeks after profitable the November election. McMahon served as administrator of the Small Enterprise Administration for 2 years in Trump’s first administration. She can also be a former president and CEO of World Wrestling Leisure.
McMahon can also be board chair at America First Coverage Institute, a nonprofit assume tank that helps free enterprise and nationalism. On the state stage, McMahon served on the Connecticut State Board of Schooling. She additionally served as a trustee at Sacred Coronary heart College, a non-public Catholic college in Fairfield, Connecticut. She is at present the treasurer on the college’s Board of Trustees, in accordance with the varsity’s web site.
In 2012, she gained the Connecticut Republican major for U.S. Senate however misplaced to present Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, who’s a member of the HELP committee.
If the Senate approves McMahon’s nomination, she would succeed Miguel Cardona because the thirteenth U.S. schooling secretary because the division’s founding in 1979.
Listed here are three takeaway exchanges from the affirmation listening to.
Antisemitism on faculty campuses
A number of Republican senators requested McMahon about antisemitism on faculty campuses.
“Will you be sure that Jewish People are secure on our campuses, for heaven’s sake?” requested Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., referring to “a wave of antisemitism” significantly because the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas assault on Israel. “Will you be sure that this stops on our faculty campuses which might be getting all of this federal tax cash?”
McMahon mentioned she would “completely,” or colleges would “face defunding of their monies.”
A number of senators requested McMahon in regards to the Schooling Division’s duty for the federal scholar mortgage program. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., questioned McMahon’s dedication to present public service mortgage forgiveness applications handed by Congress.
“These which were handed by Congress? Sure, that is the legislation,” McMahon mentioned.
Committee Chair Invoice Cassidy, R-La., mentioned McMahon’s expertise overseeing the Small Enterprise Administration “can be an awesome asset because the division seems to reform a really damaged scholar mortgage program.”
In the course of the listening to, McMahon additionally voiced assist for extra skill-based studying and twin enrollment in Okay-12. “I feel we now have to have a look at schooling and say our vocational and skill-based coaching will not be a default schooling,” McMahon mentioned.
Closing the Schooling Division
A number of Democratic lawmakers probed McMahon about Trump’s push to get rid of the Schooling Division. On Wednesday, Trump referred to the division as a “huge con job” and mentioned he wished the company closed instantly.
“The president has given a really clear directive that he want to look in totality on the Division of Schooling, and believes that the paperwork of it ought to be closed, that we should always return schooling to our states, that the most effective schooling is that closest to the youngsters,” McMahon mentioned.
She acknowledged that solely Congress has the facility to close down the company. And McMahon famous that applications established by federal statute would want to proceed with or with out an Schooling Division.
However she mentioned she was open to exploring whether or not the Schooling Division’s civil rights investigation arm may transfer to the U.S. Division of Justice and whether or not IDEA obligations may shift to the U.S. Division of Well being and Human Companies.
When talking of IDEA, McMahon mentioned, “I am undecided that it is not higher served in HHS, however I do not know.” She mentioned that if she’s confirmed, she would make it a excessive precedence to make sure funds for college kids with disabilities usually are not impacted.
“It’s extremely vital that these applications proceed to be funded,” she mentioned.
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., mentioned “To be clear right here, you are going to put particular schooling within the fingers of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.,” referring to the newly named HHS secretary who has refused to say vaccines do not trigger autism.
Title IX protections
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., requested McMahon if she would assist language within the regulation for Title IX — a federal intercourse discrimination legislation — that claims colleges should handle sexual harassment that’s both “extreme or pervasive.” At present, Title IX regulation says sexual harassment that’s “extreme and pervasive” is prohibited, which is a better threshold for investigations.
“I do not consider there ought to be any acceptance of sexual harassment, senator,” McMahon mentioned.
Baldwin replied, “I hope that you’ll take your place and press for that to be the legislation.”
Baldwin additionally raised issues about McMahon’s assist for sexual assault victims, because the nominee is a defendant in a lawsuit filed by former World Wrestling Leisure workers alleging sexual harassment and abuse.
“If confirmed, you can be accountable with overseeing the Division of Schooling Workplace of Civil Rights, charged with guaranteeing equal entry to schooling by means of vigorous enforcement of civil rights legal guidelines,” Baldwin mentioned. “I’m so involved about whether or not sexual assault survivors on campus can belief you to assist them.”
McMahon replied, “They actually can belief me to assist them.”
All through the listening to, McMahon mentioned the Schooling Division would defend college students from discrimination and harassment. One instance she gave was prohibiting colleges from letting transgender women and girls play on ladies’s designated sport groups. She additionally mentioned the Schooling Division would defend the rights of fogeys “to direct the ethical schooling of their kids.”
Hassan mentioned the listening to felt like “elegant gaslighting” due to McMahon’s ambitions for the Schooling Division, which is being threatened with closure by President Trump.
“The entire listening to proper now feels sort of surreal to me,” Hassan mentioned.
