By Tcherika Petit-Frere
Howard University News Service
The full Senate is expected to vote next week on whether to confirm Linda McMahon as Secretary of Education. Senators voted 51-47 on Thursday to end the debate over President Trump’s nominee and to move forward in the confirmation process.
During her confirmation hearing, McMahon discussed her “remedy” for the Department of Education, which Trump wants to cut.
“In many cases, our wounds are caused by the excessive consolidation of power in our federal education establishment,” McMahon said earlier this month in front of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
“The remedy? Fund education freedom, not government-run systems. Listen to parents, not politicians. Build up careers, not college debt. Empower states, not special interests. Invest in teachers, not Washington bureaucrats.”
One issue for McMahon’s critics is that she has very little experience, having served on Connecticut’s Board of Education for one year.
“Education is the issue that determines our national success and prepares American workers to win the future,” McMahon said during her opening statement. “I’ve been passionate about education since my earliest college days, when I studied to earn a teaching credential.”
Her primary experience was co-founding and serving as CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) with her husband, Vince McMahon. She stepped down as CEO in 2010 to run for a Senate seat in Connecticut, but lost to Richard Blumenthal.
The McMahons were involved in a sexual abuse lawsuit, where they were accused of not taking action against reports of child sexual abuse by one of their ringside announcers at WWE.
McMahon’s confirmation hearing came weeks after Trump began issuing a flurry of executive orders, which have also targeted the Department of Education, including budget cuts.
For example, the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by billionaire Elon Musk, cut $900 million from an agency within the Department of Education. Another action that Trump took to weaken the department was to put employees on paid leave.
Although it is one of the smallest government departments, with only 4,400 employees, it ranks sixth in total spending, accounting for 4% of federal expenditures in fiscal year 2024, or $268.35 billion, according to USA Facts.
McMahon, who led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term, agrees with his plans to downsize the education department.
“Long before there was a Department of Education, we fulfilled the programs of our educational system,” she said. “Are there other areas, other agencies, where parts of the Department of Education could better serve our students and our parents on a local level? And I am really all for the president’s mission, which is to return education to the states. I believe as he does that the best education is closest to the child and not certainly from Washington, D.C.”
During her opening remarks, McMahon also discussed the public school system’s “decline,” referring to the recent data from the Nation’s Report Card, or the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), where citizens can review the status of their states.
“In 2024, the percentage of eighth-graders reading below NAEP Basic was the largest in the assessment’s history, and the percentage of fourth-graders who scored below NAEP Basic was the largest in 20 years,” NAEP said in a press release.
Other topics during McMahon’s hearing included school choice, segregation of class between public schools and private schools, and the red tape that comes with federal funding — even though it accounts for no more than 10% of a school district’s budget. The rest comes from state and local funds.
Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, M.D., chair of the committee, asked McMahon questions about how she plans to downsize the Department of Education and deal with its backlog of antisemitism cases in its Office of Civil Rights.
“What we saw happening on our campuses was absolutely deplorable,” she responded, describing antisemitic incidents. “I believe in freedom of speech on campus, open debate, and we should encourage that, but we cannot allow violence happening on our campuses. That puts all students in an unsafe place.”
“I would want to make sure that the presidents of those universities and those colleges are taking very strong measures not to allow those to happen,” she added. “They can call in the police. They can do whatever they need to do, set standards, and to make sure those standards are upheld.”
During the hearing, McMahon provided unclear responses to some of the committee’s questions. One instance followed a question from Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Dela., on whether private schools that receive federal funding through vouchers should adhere to federal laws about discrimination.
“If confirmed as secretary,” McMahon said, “I will work with Congress to reorient the department toward helping educators, not controlling them.”
Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., asked McMahon about her stance on Trump’s executive order about freezing funds to governmental agencies, raising concern about money earmarked to help students pay for college. If Congress reserved the money for these programs, McMahon responded, the funding would be disbursed.
Alsobrooks also raised concern about the future funding of HBCUs. “I commit to you,” McMahon replied, “that I will look into every single one of those programs so that I can get back to you and say, ‘This is what I’ve found. This is what I’ve discovered. This is what the action is being taken against it or for it,’ because I’d want to be very inclusive with you on that regard.” Alsobrooks and Rochester are the first two Black women to serve in the Senate at the same time in more than two centuries, let alone on the same committee.
During a C-SPAN conference on the day of McMahon’s confirmation hearing, Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education during President Obama’s administration and former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, highlighted the educational stance of former Republican presidents before criticizing the current administration’s actions.
“What’s going on today is different than anything that has happened before,” Duncan said. “Education should be the ultimate bipartisan and nonpartisan issue. What’s happening today is an assault on public education.”
“We all took an oath to serve the public,” he added, focusing on “vulnerable populations.”
“When their lives start to be impacted, when opportunities are taken away, are you going to side with President Trump or are you going to side with constituents,” Duncan asked.
As McMahon’s confirmation moves forward amid threats to the Department of Education, many wonder about its future.
Tcherika Petit-Frere covers education for HUNewsService.com.
