The Trump administration’s appointees for key Education Department roles reveal the agency’s higher ed priorities even as the president works to close it down. The incoming officials’ backgrounds indicate career preparedness, Title IX investigations and antisemitism will dominate policy conversations.
Nicholas Kent, under secretary of education
Kent was Virginia’s deputy secretary of education and chief policy officer at Career Education Colleges and Universities, a national trade association. He also was the director of policy, planning and research at the Office of the State Superintendent of Education in Washington, D.C.
Paul Moore, assistant general counsel and chief investigative counsel
As chief investigative counsel in the first Trump Administration, Moore investigated foreign funding disclosures by U.S. colleges and universities. He was most recently a senior fellow at the Prague Security Studies Institute’s Economic and Financial Statecraft Program, where he examined technology transfers between U.S. research universities and China.
He previously worked for the Defense of Freedom Institute, where he “assisted in opposing radical changes to Title IX and related programs,” according to the administration.
Noah Pollak, senior advisor
Pollak was a founding member of Jewish Voices for Trump, an arm of the president’s 2024 campaign. He has been an advisor to Parents Defending Education and other conservative organizations on education, foreign policy and media spaces.
David Samberg, counsel, Office for Civil Rights
Samberg was investigative counsel for the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, where he investigated antisemitism on college campuses, and civil rights and Title IX issues.
Murray Bessette, senior advisor, Office of Postsecondary Education
Murray Bessette oversaw K12 civics initiatives as the director of academic programs at the Alexander Hamilton Society and senior vice president of education at the Common Sense Society. He previously worked as director of academic programs at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.
Kirsten Baesler, assistant secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education
As North Dakota’s elected state superintendent, Baesler supported personalized competency-based learning through her “choice-ready accountability framework.” The initiative was designed to provide students with the skills to succeed in the workforce, college and the military.
Sarah Wilson, deputy assistant secretary of the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education
Wilson specialized in learning acceleration and high-dosage tutoring at the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. Wilson also oversaw the state’s college and career readiness initiatives.
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She previously served as the director of research, service and policy at Morehead State University’s School of Public Affairs. She managed large-scale grants supporting K12 students in Appalachia.
Michael Brickman, senior advisor
Brickman worked on accreditation, distance and competency-based education, and employer-education partnerships in his previous stint at the Education Department. He also helped craft Executive Order 13932 to prioritize skills and competencies over college degree requirements in the federal hiring process.
He returns to the second Trump administration from the Cicero Institute and the American Enterprise Institute, where he focused on federal education and workforce reforms. He also supported school choice initiatives as an advisor to former Wisconsin governor, Scott Walker.
