Linda McMahon confirmed as next Secretary of Education
Businesswoman and former Small Business Administration head Linda McMahon has officially been confirmed as Secretary of Education by a vote of 51-45.
Businesswoman and former Small Business Administration head Linda McMahon has officially been confirmed as Secretary of Education.
On Monday evening, McMahon’s nomination passed the Senate following a 51-45 party-line vote.
[RELATED: Trump doubles down on plan to return American education ‘back to the states’]
McMahon has an extensive career in both business and government. Prior to becoming chair of the board for the America First Policy Institute, she served as president and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
McMahon worked in President Trump’s initial cabinet from 2017 to 2019 as the administrator of the Small Business Administration. In addition to two U.S. Senate runs as the Republican nominee for Connecticut in 2010 and 2012, she was appointed to the Connecticut Board of Education by Governor M. Jodi Rell in 2009.
On Nov. 19, then President-elect Trump formally announced his intention to nominate McMahon, whom he called a “fierce advocate for Parents’ Rights.”
”As Secretary of Education, Linda will fight tirelessly to expand ‘Choice’ to every State in America, and empower parents to make the best Education decisions for their families,” Trump wrote.
In her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, McMahon signaled her support for President Trump’s plan, and a longstanding goal of the Republican Party, to abolish the Department of Education.
”The bottom line is, because it’s not working,” McMahon said about eliminating the department. “The Department of Education was set up in 1980, and since that time we have spent almost a trillion dollars and we have watched our performance scores continue to go down.”
“I do believe that it is a responsibility to make sure that our children do have equal access to excellent education,” she also told HELP. “I think that that is best handled at the state level, closest to the states, working with state administrators, teachers, parents, who should have input into their curriculum.”
