Senate confirms Linda McMahon: What this means for the Department of Education
FILE-Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Education, arrives for her Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on February 13, 2025 in Washington, D
The Senate confirmed Linda McMahon as Secretary of Education in a 51-45 vote on Monday. McMahon will now lead the Department of Education.
What will happen to the Department of Education?
Big picture view:
Linda McMahon admitted that only Congress has the power to close the Department of Education, but she pledged to conserve Title I money for low-income schools, Pell grants for low-income college students, and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
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However, McMahon implied some operations may move to other departments, saying Health and Human Services might be better suited to enforcing disability rights laws.
McMahon said during her confirmation hearing that her goal is to make the Department of Education "operate more efficiently," not to defund programs.
Trump’s stance on the Department of Education
The backstory:
Speculation regarding the future of the Department of Education is still up in the air. During the 2024 presidential campaign, Donald Trump pledged to close the Department of Education and grant its authority to states.
And when he returned to the White House after his election win, Trump signed sweeping orders to eliminate America’s schools’ diversity programs and accommodations for transgender students while also pushing for expanded school choice programs, the Associated Press noted.
The White House has also considered an executive order that would direct the education secretary to cut the Department of Education as much as legally possible while asking Congress to shut it down completely.
According to the AP, the Trump administration gave schools and colleges nationwide a Feb. 28 deadline to eliminate diversity programs or risk having their federal money pulled by the administration.
Who is Linda McMahon?
Linda McMahon is a billionaire and former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment. The 76-year-old is an unconventional pick for the Education Department role.
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McMahon spent a year on Connecticut’s state board of education and is a longtime trustee at Sacred Heart University, but otherwise has little traditional education leadership.
She also gave millions of dollars to Trump’s campaigns and served as leader of the Small Business Administration during his first term.
What is the Department of Education?
The Education Department was established in 1979, and the agency’s key role is to distribute money to schools and colleges in the U.S. The department sends billions of dollars annually to K-12 schools and manages a $1.6 trillion federal student loan portfolio, the Associated Press noted.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by previous LIVENOW from FOX reporting and the Associated Press, which provides background on Linda McMahon and the Department of Education. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.