Linda McMahon’s confirmation hearing later this week to serve as the secretary of education comes as President Donald Trump administration is already whittling down—and seeking to abolish—the very department the president has selected her to lead.
McMahon, a business mogul who served in the first Trump administration as head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, will appear before the U.S. Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee on Thursday, Feb. 13 at 10 a.m.
It’s typical for lawmakers to question an appointee’s background, expertise, and preparedness for the job, as well as their relevant policy positions. But this hearing comes during an aggressive effort from Trump—largely orchestrated through billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency—to shrink the Education Department’s footprint. Dozens of employees have been placed on administrative leave, and an executive order is reportedly in the works that will seek to kick off the dismantling of the 45-year-old agency.
“I have no doubt that that will be top of mind for many of the members as they’re questioning the nominee,” said Clare McCann, managing director of policy and operations at American University’s Postsecondary Equity and Economics Research Center.
McMahon’s background, vision for the Education Department, and adherence to Trump are likely to come up
McMahon’s selection to serve as education secretary was met with pushback from the nation’s largest teachers’ union, which asked lawmakers to reject her nomination.
Despite her lack of experience in education, however, others viewed her business background as the co-founder and former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment as a positive, saying it gives her a solid foundation to oversee a department with an $80 billion budget that covers programs addressing prekindergarten through postsecondary education as well as a portfolio of more than $1 trillion in student loans.
Joining her in leadership will be a seasoned educator and former state education chief, Penny Schwinn, who policy watchers think can complement McMahon’s business background.
McCann anticipates that senators will ask about McMahon’s commitment to supporting education programs that Congress funds and protecting student data, and will also seek transparency about her goals for leading the department.
“It’s a big opportunity for members of Congress and for members of the education committee in the Senate to really ask the questions they feel they need answers to, and they feel their constituents want answers to,” she said.
Though this won’t be McMahon’s first time in front of lawmakers—her 2017 hearing as the nominee to lead the Small Business Association ultimately led to an 81-19 vote confirming her—she’ll come into this hearing amid turbulent waters caused by Trump’s executive orders and moves in the first few weeks of his second administration.
Under the president’s effort to squash diversity, equity, and inclusion, more than 75 people have been placed on paid administrative leave in the department, even though most have only tenuous ties to DEI, according to the union that represents employees there. Staff there have also been offered a deferred resignation, though the terms have prompted concerns from the union and staffers and a judge has temporarily put that offer on hold.
The moves have hurt morale and caused confusion about day-to-day work at the agency, staff who spoke with Education Week said.
Meanwhile, members of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency team have been working out of the department and gained access to sensitive information that requires high levels of security clearance, the Washington Post and others have reported.
DOGE officials were feeding some information into artificial intelligence tools, the Washington Post reported last week. On Friday, the department denied entry to Democratic lawmakers who sought a meeting with Acting Education Secretary Denise Carter, Axios reported.
In addition, Musk’s office said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that the Education Department had terminated DEI training grants totaling $15 million. The department was looking at other grants as part of the effort to weed out DEI, according to reporting from NBC News.
McCann anticipates that all will come up in senators’ questions for McMahon.
Trump wants to leave a mark on K-12 education
Meanwhile, Trump has sought to leave an ambitious mark on the nation’s K-12 schools.
He’s threatened through recent executive orders to pull federal dollars from schools that allow transgender girls to play on teams that align with their gender identity, respect students’ pronouns and names if they differ from legal documents without informing parents, or teach about race and racism in a way he considers to be “radical indoctrination.” He’s also directed several agencies to examine how they can repurpose existing funds to prioritize school choice initiatives.
Trump vowed McMahon would send education “back to the states” in her role when he selected her for it. As the president weighs an executive order seeking to downsize and depower the department, he told reporters that he wants McMahon “to put herself out of a job.”
Though McMahon is not the most controversial of Trump’s nominees, McCann said the administration’s recent actions on education may heighten scrutiny.
“Certainly the Trump administration has been moving extremely quickly, and it is unusual to make really big policy decisions and actions without having permanent leadership in place,” she said. “Linda McMahon will certainly be under scrutiny for actions that have already been taken.”
