WASHINGTON — U.S. education secretary nominee Linda McMahon told a Senate panel Thursday that, if confirmed, she would not defund public schools but would seek to reform the U.S. Department of Education by reducing federal bureaucracy and bringing schools back to the basics of reading and math.
"We are failing our students, our Department of Education, and what we are doing today is not working, and we need to change it,” McMahon said.
However, when asked about some specific changes she would make to Education Department programming, McMahon said, if confirmed, she would evaluate department functions before making recommendations. She said she would "reorient the department toward helping educators, not controlling them."
The 2 ½-hour confirmation hearing, held by the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, was briefly interrupted five times by people protesting McMahon's nomination. The Republican-controlled Senate is expected to approve McMahon's nomination in the coming days.
McMahon's confirmation hearing comes amid drastic changes at the Education Department. President Donald Trump has already issued various executive orders that severely limit federal funding, prohibit activities related to diversity, equity and inclusion, and call for an end to "indoctrination" in K-12 schools, which he said includes "gender ideology and discriminatory equity ideology.”
Trump is also expected to issue an executive order that would significantly reduce the Education Department’s authority and responsibility in the federal government.
In fiscal year 2024, the Education Department received $79.1 billion from Congress. Lawmakers have yet to approve FY 2025 funding.
Among the Education Department's responsibilities is managing $1.6 trillion in higher education student loans.
Trump nominated McMahon just weeks after winning the November election. McMahon served as administrator of the Small Business Administration for two years in Trump’s first administration. She is also a former president and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment.
McMahon is also board chair at America First Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank that supports free enterprise and nationalism. At the state level, McMahon served on the Connecticut State Board of Education. She also served as a trustee at Sacred Heart University, a private Catholic school in Fairfield, Connecticut. She is currently the treasurer on the university’s Board of Trustees, according to the school’s website.
In 2012, she won the Connecticut Republican primary for U.S. Senate but lost to current Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, who is a member of the HELP committee.
If the Senate approves McMahon's nomination, she would succeed Miguel Cardona as the 13th U.S. education secretary since the department’s founding in 1979.
Here are three takeaway exchanges from the confirmation hearing.
Antisemitism on college campuses
Several Republican senators asked McMahon about antisemitism on college campuses.
"Will you make sure that Jewish Americans are safe on our campuses, for heaven's sake?" asked Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., referring to “a wave of antisemitism” particularly since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. "Will you make sure that this stops on our college campuses that are getting all of this federal tax money?"
McMahon said she would "absolutely," or schools would "face defunding of their monies."
Several senators asked McMahon about the Education Department's responsibility for the federal student loan program. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., questioned McMahon's commitment to existing public service loan forgiveness programs passed by Congress.
"Those that have been passed by Congress? Yes, that's the law," McMahon said.
Committee Chair Bill Cassidy, R-La., said McMahon's experience overseeing the Small Business Administration "would be a great asset as the department looks to reform a very broken student loan program."
During the hearing, McMahon also voiced support for more skill-based learning and dual enrollment in K-12. "I think we have to look at education and say our vocational and skill-based training is not a default education," McMahon said.
Closing the Education Department
Several Democratic lawmakers probed McMahon about Trump's push to eliminate the Education Department. On Wednesday, Trump referred to the department as a "big con job" and said he wanted the agency closed immediately.
"The president has given a very clear directive that he would like to look in totality at the Department of Education, and believes that the bureaucracy of it should be closed, that we should return education to our states, that the best education is that closest to the kids," McMahon said.
She acknowledged that only Congress has the power to shut down the agency. And McMahon noted that programs established by federal statute would need to continue with or without an Education Department.
But she said she was open to exploring whether the Education Department's civil rights investigation arm could move to the U.S. Department of Justice and whether IDEA responsibilities could shift to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
When speaking of IDEA, McMahon said, "I'm not sure that it's not better served in HHS, but I don't know." She said that if she's confirmed, she would make it a high priority to ensure funds for students with disabilities are not impacted.
"It is incredibly important that those programs continue to be funded," she said.
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., said "To be clear here, you're going to put special education in the hands of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.," referring to the newly named HHS secretary who has refused to say vaccines don't cause autism.
Title IX protections
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., asked McMahon if she would support language in the regulation for Title IX — a federal sex discrimination law — that says schools must address sexual harassment that is either "severe or pervasive." Currently, Title IX regulation says sexual harassment that is "severe and pervasive" is prohibited, which is a higher threshold for investigations.
"I don't believe there should be any acceptance of sexual harassment, senator," McMahon said.
Baldwin replied, "I hope that you will take your position and press for that to be the law."
Baldwin also raised concerns about McMahon's support for sexual assault victims, as the nominee is a defendant in a lawsuit filed by former World Wrestling Entertainment employees alleging sexual harassment and abuse.
"If confirmed, you will be responsible with overseeing the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights, charged with ensuring equal access to education through vigorous enforcement of civil rights laws," Baldwin said. "I am so concerned about whether sexual assault survivors on campus can trust you to support them."
McMahon replied, "They certainly can trust me to support them."
Throughout the hearing, McMahon said the Education Department would protect students from discrimination and harassment. One example she gave was prohibiting schools from letting transgender girls and women play on women's designated sport teams. She also said the Education Department would protect the rights of parents "to direct the moral education of their children."
Hassan said the hearing felt like "elegant gaslighting" because of McMahon's ambitions for the Education Department, which is being threatened with closure by President Trump.
"The whole hearing right now feels kind of surreal to me," Hassan said.
