Linda McMahon, who has pledged to downsize the U.S. Department of Education, was confirmed Monday in the U.S. Senate. The vote went as expected, down a party-line vote of 51-45.
“I think she understands the difference between the state and federal role in education,” U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, president pro tempore of the Senate, said prior to the vote. He said he believes McMahon will work well with Congress to address concerns throughout her tenure.
At her confirmation hearing in February, she argued that students and teachers would be better served with more localized control and not by bureaucrats in Washington D.C. She also said she would follow President Donald Trump’s directive to make the agency more efficient, such as moving the Office for Civil Rights to the Justice Department and disabilities support to the Department of Health and Human Services.
In voting against her nomination, New Jersey Democrat Sen. Cory Booker argued in a statement she would “decrease access to higher education, raise student loan payments, and weaken civil rights protections for students while using the Office for Civil Rights to promote a far-right political agenda.”
McMahon, during her confirmation hearing, had stopped short of saying she would shut the department down, something Trump’s called for, arguing that takes an act of Congress.
Education and Workforce Chairman Tim Walberg, a Michigan Republican, met with McMahon late last month and stated: “I look forward to working with … McMahon to deliver overwhelming, positive change for America’s students and parents. Together, we will deliver on promises like expanding school choice, reining in federal overreach, and ending the Biden-Harris illegal student loan scheme.”
Conservatives have rallied behind McMahon, calling her a strong choice who will ensure Trump’s agenda — especially school choice and local control initiatives — is enforced.
“Vanquishing Washington’s bloated education bureaucracy will be a knock-down drag-out fight that Ms. McMahon may be well-suited for,” The Wall Street Journal editorial board previously opined, noting hers is “a job that will require brawling with an oversized bureaucracy, teachers unions and other special interest heavyweights.”
Nicole Neily, president of Parents Defending Education, said in a statement following McMahon’s confirmation: “Linda McMahon’s leadership as the new Secretary of Education will be pivotal in reversing the disastrous policies that have failed our nation’s classrooms. For far too long, the Department of Education has catered to left-wing political activists and teachers’ union leaders, ignoring the concerns of parents and their children.”
McMahon, 76, played a big role in Trump’s re-election campaign and served as chairwoman of the America First Action political action committee. She also led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term. She is married to WWE wrestling mogul Vince McMahon.
MORE: Linda McMahon says she would downsize Education Department if confirmed
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