Senators pressed Linda McMahon on what it would look like if the Department of Education were dismantled and how she would enforce civil rights laws during her confirmation hearing Thursday to be education secretary.
McMahon appeared before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee one day after President Donald Trump publicly called for eliminating the department she’s seeking to lead.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., the chair of the committee, pressed McMahon to pledge that she would not attempt to abolish the department without congressional approval, as required by law.
McMahon said she would present a plan that senators could get on board with. She said there were operations of the department that could be eliminated that wouldn’t need congressional approval, but did not go into detail, and said that states would still receive the federal funding they expect for schools.
“We’d like to do this right,” she said, adding that shutting down the department “certainly does require congressional action.”
Later, Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., asked McMahon whether she would “do what you are legally required to do” if Trump “gives you a directive that breaks the law.”
“The president will not ask me to do anything that is against the law,” McMahon answered.
Amid multiple interruptions by protesters, McMahon pledged to "return education to the states," emphasize vocational training, support parents who want to enroll children in private schools and combat antisemitic harassment on campuses, if she's confirmed. She also acknowledged that shutting down the department would require approval from Congress.
The Education Department has come under scrutiny by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, which has claimed credit for canceling $881 million in contracts at the department — though the administration has refused to release details. Some of Musk’s aides have also gained access to Education Department systems and been granted administrator email accounts, a development that longtime employees call highly unusual.
McMahon said the DOGE employees were just doing an audit, and because they'd been onboarded as department employees, there are privacy rules they must adhere to.
McMahon is looking to join Trump’s Cabinet after four years as chair of the America First Policy Institute, a Trump-aligned think tank that backs redirecting federal education dollars toward private schools, reducing the influence of teacher unions and supporting skills-based technical career training. Several of the early appointees at the Education Department came from the think tank.
It’s unclear whether McMahon supports eliminating the department, a longtime goal of some Republicans. On Wednesday, Trump told reporters he wants to close it because it’s “a complete con job.” Trump said this month he hopes McMahon would “put herself out of a job.” And NBC News has reported that Trump is preparing an executive order to abolish the Education Department — though he can’t unilaterally eliminate a federal agency without congressional approval.
McMahon left WWE in 2009 and ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in Connecticut in 2010 and 2012. She was recently named as a defendant in a lawsuit alleging that the WWE sought to conceal sexual abuse committed against boys assisting the ring crew on productions during her time running the wrestling giant. The case is currently on hold, and the McMahons have denied the claims.
She has also faced criticism since she left WWE for how it handled steroid use and for the graphic and sexual storylines that dominated its productions in the ’90s.
“I am so concerned about whether sexual assault survivors on campus can trust you to support them,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., after mentioning the suit.
McMahon responded that they can trust her.
“I have a granddaughter that is now in college," she said. "I have two grandsons who are in college, and I have deep commitment and understanding of how I would feel if any of them were involved in sexual harassment or accused of sexual harassment. You have my absolute commitment that I will uphold and protect those investigations to make sure that those students are treated fairly on both sides.”
McMahon’s son, Shane, her daughter, Stephanie, and Stephanie’s husband, Paul Levesque, the WWE chief creative officer who wrestled under the moniker “Triple H,” sat behind her.
The hearing was interrupted by protesters four times, who shouted in support of public schools, and in opposition to vouchers for private school education.
Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., slammed the protestors who identified themselves as teachers, whom he said “come here and act like children.”
“Can you imagine these people teaching our kids in classrooms across America?” he said.
McMahon described an educational landscape where test scores are lagging, public colleges that “are beset by violent crime on campuses every year, and most tragically, student suicide rates have dramatically increased over the last two decades. We can do better.”
Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., called out McMahon for failing to answer her questions about whether private schools that accept public funding are allowed to discriminate against students with disabilities or students of certain races and religions.
“Private schools aren’t taking federal dollars, so they have the ability to say ... if they believe that they cannot best serve that student and they’re not taking federal dollars, then they have the right not to accept that student,” McMahon answered.
She also pledged to combat harassment against Jewish students, and that the department would not allow transgender students into single-sex spaces that do not match their birth sex.
In response to questioning from Democrats, McMahon said that Pell Grants would continue under her leadership, and that she will implement the public student loan forgiveness program.
Cassidy said the committee would vote on whether to advance McMahon's nomination to the full Senate next Thursday, Feb. 20.
The National Education Association, the country’s largest teachers union, issued a letter Thursday opposing McMahon’s confirmation.
In addition to her role with the America First Policy Institute, McMahon is on the boards of Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut; the political activist group America First Works; the right-wing media group The Daily Caller News Foundation; and Truth Social’s parent company, Trump Media & Technology Group. According to a financial disclosure report she filed in December, Truth Social’s parent firm paid her $55,200 last year, and she would divest from the company if she is confirmed.
Linda and Vince McMahon, her husband, spent over $20 million to help elect Trump last year, according to OpenSecrets, a campaign finance watchdog, making them among his largest financial backers.
