Editor’s note: This story is developing and will be updated.
President-elect Donald Trump has named Linda McMahon, who served as administrator of the Small Business Association for two years in his first administration, as his nominee for U.S. secretary of education.
In an announcement posted to Trump's social media platform Truth Social at close to 9 p.m. EST Tuesday, Trump said, "Linda will use her decades of Leadership experience, and deep understanding of both Education and Business, to empower the next Generation of American Students and Workers, and make America Number One in Education in the World."
Trump's post also referred to his campaign promise to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education. "We will send Education BACK TO THE STATES, and Linda will spearhead that effort," his post said.
Who is Linda McMahon?
McMahon, a former president and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, a company that develops and produces scripted wrestling events, currently serves as co-chair of the Trump-Vance transition team.
She has served on the Connecticut State Board of Education and as a trustee at Sacred Heart University, a private Catholic institution in Fairfield, Connecticut. She is currently the treasurer on the university's Board of Trustees, according to Sacred Heart's website.
McMahon is also board chair at America First Policy Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that supports free enterprise and nationalism. Trump praised her advocacy at AFPI for state-level universal school choice policies: "As Secretary of Education, Linda will fight tirelessly to expand 'Choice' to every State in America, and empower parents to make the best Education decisions for their families."
According to EdChoice, a pro-school choice nonprofit organization, at least one form of private school choice is offered in 33 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. EdChoice said earlier this year that enrollment in private school choice programs exceeded 1 million students for the first time.
In 2012, McMahon won the Connecticut Republican primary for U.S. Senate but lost to current Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy.
If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, she would succeed Miguel Cardona as the 13th U.S. education secretary since the department's founding in 1979.
