Schooling secretary nominee Linda McMahon is the following Cupboard choose of President Trump’s to face a showdown with lawmakers — and the primary he has advised to “put yourself out of a job.”
McMahon, whose affirmation listening to is scheduled for Thursday at 10 a.m. EST, will likely be questioned by senators only a week after Trump stated he wish to use govt motion to remove the Division of Schooling and amid media reviews that he’s getting ready govt orders to weaken and scale back the federal company and calling on Congress to complete it off.
Whereas she’s additionally prone to face questions on her lack of schooling expertise, a lingering lawsuit from her skilled wrestling days and the way she may implement govt orders on gender points and college selection, McMahon’s listening to might be dominated by the way forward for the Schooling Division.
Republicans have voiced no objections to McMahon, to date giving her a transparent path to affirmation, however Democrats and different opponents of the previous World Wrestling Leisure (WWE) govt have made clear their traces of assault forward of the listening to.
“McMahon’s nomination is absolutely regarding for us and for fogeys throughout the nation, as a result of what we have now heard from dad and mom is that they need a robust public schooling system for our youngsters. They need our youngsters to really feel secure in faculties, they usually need faculties to be absolutely funded, and Linda McMahon would not actually have a monitor file of being as an advocate for schooling,” stated Ailen Arreaza, govt director of ParentsTogether.
Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.), a member of the Senate Well being, Schooling, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) despatched a letter to McMahon Tuesday with dozens of questions they need her to be ready to reply on Thursday, together with on ending the division, the scholar mortgage system and McMahon’s help of Undertaking 2025.
The senators raised considerations that McMahon has little expertise in schooling other than a yr on the Connecticut State Board of Schooling and a number of years on the board of trustees for Sacred Coronary heart College in Connecticut.
“You have a minimal track record on education issues and strikingly little experience pertaining to education policy,” the Democrats wrote.
“This lack of a public record means that the American people have not been afforded the opportunity to evaluate your views on topics related to the Education Secretary’s core responsibilities,” they added.
McMahon, who in Trump’s first administration served as the top of the Small Enterprise Administration, was tapped by the president-elect again in November, a shock choose for these within the schooling area.
Trump has advised reporters he has spoken to McMahon about closing up the Division of Schooling and the way he advised her to “put yourself out of a job” if confirmed.
Utterly eliminating the division would require an act of Congress, and Republicans in each the Home and Senate have launched payments to take action, however it’s tough to think about a measure securing the 60 votes to defeat a Senate filibuster.
Nevertheless, Trump has stated he’s taking a look at govt actions concentrating on the company, and media reviews say he’s eyeing ones to both reduce packages not written into legislation or transfer them to different federal departments.
When McMahon was nominated, Sen. Invoice Cassidy (R-La.), chair of the HELP Committee, stated he agreed “with President Trump’s statement that we need someone who is going to focus on parental choice in children’s education.”
“Linda McMahon’s expertise working the Small Enterprise Administration can clearly assist in working one other company. I stay up for assembly together with her,” stated Cassidy, who will likely be working Thursday’s listening to.
The HELP chair’s dealing with of the proceedings will likely be intently watched by the president and his allies. Cassidy, who voted to convict Trump after his 2021 impeachment, is up for reelection in 2026, and he has already drawn one pro-MAGA major challenger.
The Hill has reached out to Cassidy’s workplace for additional remark.
McMahon has largely flown underneath the radar to date, significantly in comparison with Trump’s extra controversial nominees, similar to Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth, Well being and Human Companies choose Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Director of Nationwide Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who was confirmed Wednesday.
Nevertheless, no less than one a part of her previous is prone to be introduced up after a lawsuit was filed in October towards her and her husband, Vince McMahon, throughout their time main WWE. The go well with alleges the McMahons knew a few ringside announcer sexually abusing ring boys however didn’t do something to cease him.
Her legal professional has stated the lawsuit “is filled with scurrilous lies, exaggerations and misrepresentations regarding Linda McMahon.”
The presidents of the Nationwide Schooling Affiliation and the American Federation of Academics, together with Democratic lawmakers, dad and mom and college students, are holding a rally in D.C. forward of McMahon’s listening to with the message “to protect students and public schools.”
Keri Rodrigues, president of the Nationwide Mother and father Union, stated her group will likely be on the Capitol with dad and mom speaking to lawmakers this week and has despatched truth sheets out to all 100 senators detailing what it will be imply if the Division of Schooling was abolished.
“I hear a lot about what they want to cut, what they want to destroy, what they want to dismantle. I would love to hear a forward-thinking vision for what American public education is supposed to look like,” Rodrigues stated. “I haven’t heard a lot of that. I’ve heard a lot of complaining and whining about things that they don’t like, but I’m not hearing about a viable alternative in terms of what they’re going to do for American families.”
“I am hoping substance like that, and deep questions like that, are asked of Linda McMahon,” she added.
McMahon may additionally be referred to as upon to reply for choices the Division of Schooling has made underneath appearing Secretary Denise Carter.
On the finish of January, dozens of company staffers had been positioned on administrative depart after Trump’s govt order banning variety, fairness and inclusion (DEI) within the federal authorities.
The union representing the workers believes staffers had been focused after attending a DEI coaching in 2019, one which was held throughout Trump’s first administration and was inspired by the secretary of Schooling on the time.
And final week congressional Democrats confirmed up on the Division of Schooling after their request for an emergency assembly with the appearing secretary to debate Trump’s sweeping federal cuts was ignored. The lawmakers had been locked out of the constructing once they arrived and never allowed in.
“They are blocking members of Congress from entering the Department of Education! Elon is allowed in and not the people? ILLEGAL,” Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) stated, referencing tech billionaire Elon Musk, who leads the Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE).
This week, DOGE introduced thousands and thousands of {dollars} in contracts the Division of Schooling has ended.
“We will be down tomorrow with parents from across the country, meeting with the Senate … and asking them to make sure that they ask the tough questions, so we know where they stand on these issues, and we know where Linda McMahon and the administration stands on these issues,” Rodrigues stated.
