(Thérèse Boudreaux, The Center Square) The U.S. Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of Education, even as the department’s future existence remains uncertain.
Lawmakers voted 51-45 to approve Linda McMahon, who led the Small Business Administration in Trump’s first term and is a long-time advocate of school choice.
McMahon’s background in education includes her appointment to Connecticut’s State Board of Education in January 2009, where she served 15 months. She also served as a member of the Board of Trustees at Sacred Heart University.
“The Education Department’s bloated bureaucracy has failed to improve the nation’s education system, and likely even made it worse,” U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said on X. “Ms. McMahon has committed to righting the ship of American education.”
The Department of Education oversees education policy for schools that receive federal funding, enforces Title IX rules, manages FAFSA, and administers Pell Grants and less than 10% of public school funding, among other things.
McMahon’s confirmation comes as Trump is planning to drastically reduce the department’s workforce and potentially dismantle the department entirely, returning education to the state and local level. The Biden administration had come under fire for pushing schools to adopt LGBT and DEI initiatives into their curriculum and policies via the Department of Education.
“School districts and individual schools have different needs, and every student has his or her own needs and aspirations too,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told lawmakers Monday. “I’m glad that Linda McMahon plans to work in a way that empowers those closest to the student – because they are in the best position to do what’s right for those individual needs.”
A Marist poll released Monday shows that 63% of U.S. residents either oppose or strongly oppose getting rid of the U.S. Department of Education, while 37% of residents either strongly support or support abolishing the department.
