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Linda McMahon is one step closer to becoming the secretary of education in charge of dismantling her own department after the Senate education committee moved her nomination forward Thursday.
McMahon’s nomination will be taken up by the full Senate, where she is likely to be confirmed. In a 12-11 party line vote, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee advanced her nomination with a favorable recommendation.
During her confirmation hearing last week, McMahon stood firmly behind President Donald Trump’s calls to gut the U.S. Department of Education, potentially by doling out its responsibilities to other federal agencies. McMahon pledged to work with Congress to dismantle the department, but said she did not intend to slash federal funding for high poverty schools, low income college students, and others who depend on federal education dollars.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican who chairs the education committee, praised the “strong vision” McMahon laid out for the Education Department, including a commitment to empowering parents and upholding Title IX, the federal civil rights law, based on the Trump administration’s interpretation, which acknowledges the existence of only two sexes.
“If confirmed, Ms. McMahon has the tall task of reforming a Department of Education that has lost its purpose,” Cassidy said. “We need a strong leader at the Department who will get our education system back on track.”
Sen. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat from New Hampshire who led some of the most intensive questioning of McMahon during her hearing, said the vote boiled down to “whether we support a nominee and president who believe that dismantling the U.S. Department of Education is in the best interest of kids, despite the fact that there’s no evidence that doing so will improve academic outcomes.”
For much of the country’s history, Hassan said, Black and brown children and children with disabilities often were excluded and denied equal educational opportunities. The Education Department was created to address those “deep divides” and elevate education as an issue, she said.
The Trump administration is expected to issue an executive order detailing its plans for the department.
President Trump campaigned on reducing the role of the federal government in education, but in recent weeks he’s moved to consolidate power in the executive branch and wrest control over how certain issues are taught and how schools run programs related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Trump has issued a series of executive orders aimed at preventing schools from teaching about topics like systemic racism and white privilege and removing certain protections for transgender students.
The Trump administration’s cost-cutting DOGE initiative has cut dozens of contracts and grants related to education research, teacher training, and more over the last week.
Kalyn Belsha is a senior national education reporter based in Chicago. Contact her at kbelsha@chalkbeat.org.
