Senate HELP hearing questions Linda McMahon on plans to shrink Education Department, school choice and campus safety

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee took up Linda McMahon’s nomination to be secretary of education in a hearing that centered on whether the federal Department of Education should be downsized or its functions returned to states and other agencies.

Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy opened the hearing by praising McMahon’s prior administrative experience and telling the committee she “has enormous challenges,” then outlined national test-score declines and said federal red tape is holding back schools. Ranking Member Bernie Sanders pressed McMahon on the potential impacts of proposed cuts on low-income students, special education and programs such as Pell Grants and public-service loan forgiveness.

Why it matters: Senators from both parties pressed McMahon to say how she would protect students and federal programs if the administration moves to “return education to the states” or reorganize the department. Many members asked for concrete commitments about continuing grants and civil-rights enforcement while others pushed her to describe specific implementation plans for reading interventions, special education (IDEA), and workforce-focused Pell Grant changes.

Most important takeaways

- McMahon said she supports returning more authority to states and local schools and favors “school choice” options such as charter schools, vouchers and education savings accounts. She described her aim as reducing bureaucracy so “we are presenting a plan that I think our senators could get on board with and our congress could get on board with.”

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