The consideration of Linda McMahon to run the Department of Education (DOED) will head to a full Senate vote after the Trump nominee advanced in a heavyweight decision on Thursday.
McMahon testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee during her confirmation hearing last week, when she was grilled on recent spending cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), potentially dismantling the DOED and Title IX.
“We need a strong leader at the department who will get our education system back on track,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said ahead of the committee vote. “Mrs. McMahon is the partner this committee needs.”
On Thursday, the committee voted to advance the nomination of McMahon for Education secretary to a full Senate vote.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., spoke in opposition to her nomination during the vote on Thursday.
“I like her personally. I respect the work she has done in building a large and successful business. But I think the main point that has to be made at this particular point in history is that it really doesn’t matter who the secretary of education or the secretary of labor is, because those people will not be calling the shots,” Sanders said, taking aim at President Donald Trump during his remarks.
McMahon’s nomination now heads to the Senate floor, where the entire chamber will vote on her nomination. At this time, the floor vote has not been scheduled.
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Before entering the political scene, McMahon worked as the CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, which she co-founded with her husband, Vince McMahon.
During Trump’s first term, McMahon also served as administrator of the Small Business Administration before stepping down in 2019 to “return to the private sector.”
McMahon is now being considered to head the Education Department, which Trump has said he wants to close “immediately.”
“It’s a big con job,” Trump said the day before McMahon’s confirmation hearing. “They ranked the top countries in the world. We’re ranked No. 40, but we’re ranked No. 1 in one department: cost per pupil. So, we spend more per pupil than any other country in the world, but we’re ranked No. 40.”
The president said that if confirmed, he wants McMahon to “put herself out of a job.”
The Education Department has been under the national spotlight in recent weeks, as DOGE, the department led by Elon Musk to slash federal costs, has cut hundreds of millions of spending on DEI programs being funded by DOED.
On Friday, DOGE announced that in just 48 hours, the department terminated 70 DEI training grants within the department, which totaled over $370 million.
