IBL News | New York
Linda McMahon, President Trump’s education secretary pick, had her confirmation hearing on Thursday.
The event came amid Trump’s statement that he’d like to immediately dismantle the Department of Education, which primarily facilitates the $1.7 trillion student-loan portfolio.
More than 40 million student loan borrowers hold federal loans, and the department’s Federal Student Aid office works with student loan servicers to manage borrowers’ loan repayment.
“I told Linda, ‘Linda, I hope you do a great job and put yourself out of a job.’ I want her to put herself out of a job,” Trump told reporters on February 4, adding on February 12 that he wanted the Department of Education to be closed “immediately.”
Q: “Why nominate Linda McMahon to be the Education Department Secretary if you’re going to get rid of the Education Department?”
President Donald Trump: “I told Linda, ‘Linda, I hope you do a great job and put yourself out of a job.’ I want her to put herself out of a job.” pic.twitter.com/PreB1Zx4p3
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 4, 2025
When announcing McMahon as his education secretary pick in November, Trump posted on Truth Social that one of his goals for her was to “send Education BACK TO THE STATES.”
Trump and some GOP lawmakers have said that education can be managed locally and that a federal agency isn’t needed.
Trump has also signed an executive order to “promote patriotic education” in public schools and eliminate ideologies that don’t align with his politics.
Eliminating any federal agency requires congressional approval, and while some Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation to eliminate the Department of Education, there hasn’t yet been enough support to make that happen.
During the hearing, McMahon, a former business executive who led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term, told ranking member Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) that she would continue Pell Grants, which help the neediest students pay for college, and wished to see them expanded for short-term workforce programs.
She also told Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) that Title I funds for low-income school districts and IDEA funds for students with disabilities, both appropriated by Congress, would remain.
