Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of the Department of Education, wants to reduce federal oversight in public education and uphold recent executive orders targeting Title IX, DEI and anti-Semitic discrimination in public schools, according to her confirmation hearing held last week.
In her two-and-a-half-hour session, the former WWE CEO and head of the federal Small Business Administration told a Congressional subcommittee how she plans to lead the Department of Education—a federal agency that President Trump has vowed to shut down.
Here are several ways the Department of Education could change over the next four years if McMahon is confirmed:
Diminishing the Department of Education
McMahon told U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chair of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, that feels confident her team can present a plan to dismantle the Department of Education that U.S. senators can “get on board with.” However, she recognized that no move could be made without Congressional approval.
“I’m all for the president’s mission, which is to return education to the states,” she said. “I believe as he does that the best education is closest to the child and certainly not Washington D.C.”
Whether or not Congress approves closing the federal agency, McMahon confirmed that the Department will move—not reduce—federal funding for schools. “It’s not the president’s goal to defund programs, it’s only to have it operate more efficiently,” she said.
In fact, McMahon called for the expansion of the Federal Pell Grant beyond the four-year degree to help support short-term certificates and skills-based learning.
Supporting work-based learning
During her opening remarks, McMahon affirmed her support for career-focused education in STEM fields, apprenticeships and on-the-job learning for degree and non-degree students.
“Our vocational and school-based training is not a default education,” she said. “It can be something front and center so students who are inclined to go in that direction actually should be encouraged to do that.”
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This could be accomplished by expanding dual enrollment programs that let young students earn an associate degree earlier in their lives and determine whether they feel adequately equipped to join the workforce.
Protecting student loan forgiveness—at least for this initiative
McMahon also affirmed that Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which expedites forgiveness for public sector employees, will be protected by the Department of Education. U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) asked McMahon if she would defend the program even if it were pursued by the Department of Government Efficiency in its efforts to reduce federal spending.
“Yes, because that’s the law,” McMahon said.
Some media outlets state that her response is a surprising deviation from Trump, who showed his disdain for the loan forgiveness program in his first term in office. Betsy DeVos, Trump’s former secretary of education, significantly reduced the number of loan applications by slowing down the entire process.
Echoing Trump’s executive orders
Nevertheless, McMahon ardently defended some key points the GOP base had advocated before the current administration and which Trump has solidified in his string of executive orders.
Here are a few:
- Ending antisemitism discrimination on campus: While McMahon championed free speech on campus, she stated colleges should have free reign to deploy police to ensure campuses remain safe. Schools that fail to protect their students from discrimination should face defunding. “If I am confirmed, the Department will not stand idly by while Jewish students are attacked and discriminated against.”
- Enforcing Title IX to protect girls and women: McMahon championed the Trump administration for eliminating the participation of transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports. “We will stop letting boys and men into female sports.”
- Eliminating DEI: “It was put in place ostensibly for more diversity, equity and inclusion and I think what we’re seeing is that it’s having an opposite effect. We are getting back to more segregating of our schools instead of more inclusion.”
