NC native Linda McMahon testifies on dismantling Department of Education and what’s next
A North Carolina native sat before a Senate committee Thursday morning to defend her nomination to lead the Department of Education, and supported President Donald Trump’s plan to dismantle that very agency.
Linda McMahon, a New Bern native and co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment, told senators Thursday that long before the department existed, the country had educational programs. She questioned whether other agencies or programs could better serve students and parents.
Trump campaigned on closing the Department of Education.
“I am really all for the president’s mission, which is to return education to the states,” McMahon said.
McMahon said she believes the best education “is closest to the children” but that the states and localities would still receive federal funding.
“The president’s goal is not to defund the programs,” McMahon said. “It is only to have it operate more efficiently.”
North Carolina roots
McMahon grew up in North Carolina. Her parents worked at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point.
She and her husband, Vince McMahon, are graduates of East Carolina University, where she studied French.
After graduation they moved away from the state.
In 2018, ECU gave Linda McMahon an honorary doctorate in humanities, and she served as the commencement speaker that year.
McMahon served as the head of the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019, during Trump’s first administration.
Support from UNC System president
Opponents of McMahon’s nomination as education secretary cite her company, WWE, as disqualifying due to its violent, sexual and vulgar content.
They also argue that her lack of experience in education makes her a poor choice, something that has garnered her support from others.
One supporter came from North Carolina. Just 12 hours prior to McMahon’s testimony, she posted a letter on social media from UNC System President Peter Hans supporting her nomination.
“Her longstanding commitment to service and strong belief in the enduring values of American higher education position her well for this critical leadership role,” Hans wrote to the Senate committee.
Hans continued that McMahon has helped the university system through philanthropic work, endowing two professorships at her alma mater, and has supported student scholars.
“Similarly, her service on the Connecticut Board of Education and nearly 13 years spent serving on Sacred Heart University Board of Trustees highlight her deep commitment to education and the opportunities provided by its pursuit,” Hans wrote. “She will leverage these experiences to be an effective listener and collaborative partner on policy issues facing post-secondary education in the future.”
Hans’ letter was not mentioned during the hearing, where she had to answer many questions about her views on providing children the best education possible, protecting students from discrimination and what dismantling the Department of Education looks like to McMahon.
Ending Department of Education
McMahon testified that to her understanding, to close the Department of Education would take congressional approval.
The agency has operated since May 1980. In 2024, it had the smallest number of staff of any Cabinet agency, and a $238 billion budget. It functions to create policies, provide and oversee federal financial aid, collect and provide data on the schools, recommend education reform, protect against discrimination and provide equal access to schools.
Republicans in the hearing made clear that they supported Trump’s efforts to close the agency.
“The poorest kids in our country are disillusioned about the American dream,” said Sen. Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina who introduced McMahon to the committee. “The answers they are looking for rarely come from Washington. With all of our good intentions, the Department of Education has simply failed the poorest kids in the United States of America, the greatest nation on the planet.”
Alabama Republican Rep. Katie Britt said, in her introduction of McMahon, that the status quo in education has failed not only students, but their parents.
“Our students deserve better,” Britt said. “Our parents deserve better. We have to do something different in order to achieve a different result.”
But Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, said it is the responsibility of the federal government to tell every child in America, regardless of their class, that they “get a quality education.”
“That is a lot of what the Department of Education does,” Sanders said. “We need a secretary of education who understands that in the wealthiest nation in the history of the world, we should have the best educational system on this planet, from child care to graduate school.”
He also urged paying teachers at least $60,000, something McMahon would not commit to. McMahon said she would urge states, which set teacher’s salaries, to do what is commensurate with the kinds of jobs that are in their area, as cost of living varies across the nation.
Key issues for McMahon
McMahon repeatedly testified that she did not plan to cut funding that was set by Congress and would ensure it would go where it was earmarked. She also testified about her plans to continue programs to help students with disabilities and to bolster reading grades.
She said if the department is dismantled she wants to ensure Pell Grants, a type of aid provided to low-income students, are not dissolved but expanded.
A large portion of testimony was spent on diversity, equity and inclusion.
And McMahon promised to protect college students against antisemitism.
“What we saw on our campuses was absolutely deplorable,” McMahon said. “Kids locked in libraries, afraid to come out. Now, I believe in freedom of speech on campus; open debate, and we should encourage that, but we cannot allow violence happening on our campuses that puts all students in an unsafe place.”
She was at odds with Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, who represents her home state, when she wouldn’t commit to protecting some DEI programs at schools.
McMahon told Murphy that teaching Black History Month or celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day would not put schools at risk of losing federal funding.
“I believe that Martin Luther King was one of the strongest proponents of making sure that we look at all of our populations,” McMahon said. “When he said that he would hope that his children wouldn’t be judged by the color of their skin but with the content of their character, I think that is the fundamental basis that we should celebrate Black history.”
But when Murphy went a step farther, asking if clubs at schools with ethnic and racial affiliations could be at risk of losing federal money, McMahon said she needed to get into her office first before answering.
“That’s pretty chilling,” Murphy said.
McMahon also vowed to keep “boys and men out of girls’ and women’s sports and spaces.” Republicans have been fighting against transgender female athletes being allowed to play on women’s teams. That’s an issue both Congress and North Carolina lawmakers have taken up in recent years.
McMahon also told the senators that educating students is not a “one-size-fits-all” situation and that’s why states need to take over.
“We are failing our students, our Department of Education,” McMahon said, adding that “what we are doing today is not working, and we need to change it.”
This story was originally published February 13, 2025 at 1:03 PM with the headline "NC native Linda McMahon testifies on dismantling Department of Education and what’s next."