During her recent confirmation hearing, Linda McMahon detailed how key functions of the Department of Education could be redistributed to align with President Donald Trump’s goal of dismantling the agency. While vowing to “reorient” the department, she told lawmakers that some of its largest programs would remain intact, according to The Associated Press.
McMahon, a long-time supporter and friend of Donald Trump, has an exceedingly thin background in education. Although she does have a teaching certificate, she’s never actually taught, and her only real experience in an education space was her brief time on the Connecticut Board of Education more than a decade ago. McMahon got that position in Connecticut thanks to an appointment from her politically connected friend, then-Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell. However, McMahon was forced to resign her spot on that board when it was discovered that she’d lied on her resume about having an education degree.
While she has essentially no useful experience in public education, McMahon has lots of experience with both being and handling wealthy political donors, and her actual stances regarding education reflect that. In the name of “school choice”, McMahon favors redirecting public funding to private and charter schools that get to pick and choose exactly what kind of students they accept, unlike public schools which provide for all.
McMahon is also a loyal MAGA Republican and has supported Trump’s pledge to dismantle the Department of Education.
McMahon claimed she would preserve core initiatives of the Department, including Title I funding for low-income schools, Pell Grants for low-income college students, and Public Service Loan Forgiveness. She said she believed that dismantling the department would require congressional action and that the administration aimed to develop a well-structured plan that could gain legislative support.
She maintained that Trump’s objective was not to defund crucial programs but to enhance their efficiency. McMahon also questioned whether certain programs should be transferred to other agencies, suggesting that enforcement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act might be better suited to the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees disability-related issues. Similarly, she proposed that the Office for Civil Rights could be relocated to the Justice Department.
Throughout the hearing, Democratic senators pressed McMahon on whether she would comply with directives from Elon Musk or Trump, even if they conflicted with congressional mandates. This issue is particularly relevant as Musk and Trump seek to slash department spending, much of which is allocated by Congress.
McMahon downplayed Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, describing its role as merely an “audit.” However, she reaffirmed her commitment to upholding the law.
While reassuring lawmakers that politically popular education programs would remain intact, McMahon also promised to withdraw federal funding from schools and colleges that defy Trump’s demands, including policies targeting transgender athletes, addressing campus antisemitism, and limiting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
In a tense exchange, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy pressed McMahon for clarification on Trump’s DEI ban in schools. While she affirmed that events honoring Martin Luther King Jr. should be permitted, she hesitated when asked about African American history classes.
“I’m not quite certain,” McMahon admitted. “I’d like to look into it further.”
Murphy then responded somewhat more directly, saying that her answer would “have a lot of educators and a lot of principals and administrators scrambling right now.”
Most Republican senators voiced support for McMahon, but Sen. Lisa Murkowski cautioned her against federal overreach in school curricula. She warned that federal law prohibits conditioning education grants on a school’s decision to exclude DEI topics.
“You may be in a situation where, as secretary, you may not condition the award of a grant on a school agreeing not to teach DEI subjects,” Murkowski said. ”You may be in a position where you are not able to prohibit teachers from discussing LGBTQ issues with students.”
The hearing was briefly disrupted when U.S. Capitol Police removed multiple protesters advocating for students with disabilities.
The Trump administration is considering a directive for McMahon to deconstruct the Education Department as much as legally possible while urging Congress to abolish it entirely. Trump previously stated he wanted McMahon “to put herself out of a job.”
Even without an official closure order, Trump has already begun reshaping the department. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) recently cut $900 million in contracts for tracking student progress, sparking concerns about future research and efforts to close achievement gaps.
Additionally, the department dismissed at least 39 probationary employees, including civil rights investigators, special education specialists, and student aid officials, according to a workers’ union.
Trump has not confirmed whether he will maintain the department’s core functions, which include distributing billions in school funding, managing a $1.6 trillion student loan portfolio, and enforcing education-related civil rights protections. However, his administration has already shifted priorities, instructing the department to prioritize investigations into antisemitism and launching probes into schools that allow transgender athletes to compete on women’s teams.
After the hearing, Senator Murphy criticized McMahon’s nomination as part of a broader effort to defund and privatize public education. He pointed to failed school-choice ballot initiatives in multiple states as evidence that families prefer increased public school investment.
“Billionaires that are in charge of our government today, they don’t know anything about the public school system because they don’t need it,” Murphy said.
McMahon’s nomination has also drawn opposition from the nation’s largest teacher union, the National Education Association as well as advocacy groups seeking stronger Title IX protections for sexual assault victims.
Despite this, Republicans praise her business experience and see her as a strong candidate to dismantle the education system. Sen. Bill Cassidy, chair of the health and education committee, stated that McMahon is “prepared to return power to parents and reform an Education Department that has lost the plot.”
In the past, North Carolina’s U.S. Senator Thom Tillis has expressed support for eliminating the Department of Education; now that it’s a real possibility, how will he vote?
Read more from The Associated Press.
