Linda McMahon tried to walk back the shutting down of the Department of Education despite previously noting her “mission” was to dismantle the agency.
On Friday, the president was expected to sign an executive order tasking his freshly confirmed education secretary to dissolve the federal department, before the White House reversed course.
McMahon later confirmed she believed her job is to secure a near-impossible three-fifths supermajority, or 60 votes, needed in the Senate to abolish the agency – but said that she would not simply walk away and abandon the department. Republicans currently hold a slim 53 to 47 seat majority in the Upper Chamber.
“This is not a turn off the lights and walk out of the department,” McMahon told NewsNation Friday. “It’s in close consultation with Congress and looking at how the needs of students can best be serviced.”
The Education Department oversees the $1.6 trillion student loan programs, administers Pell Grants that help low-income pupils attend university, funds programs to support those with disabilities and living in poverty, and enforces civil rights law that prevents race or sex-based discrimination in federally-funded schools.
The department’s allocation was $238 billion in fiscal year 2024, marking less than two percent of the total federal budget. It is the smallest of all cabinet agencies by number of employees.
Trump has repeatedly claimed McMahon, the billionaire former CEO of the WWE, should eventually “put herself out of a job.” While it remains unclear what the next actions of the department will be, McMahon said she wants to provide states with the resources they need to empower their pupils.
“Well, we’re looking at them all across the board, and how can they be best handled if the Department of Education does not exist,” she said. “Some of that funding comes by appropriations from Congress, so that’s in statute, and that money will continue to flow into the states.”
She added: “Pell grants, student loans might best be served in another department, and we’re looking at where that can best be handled.”
It comes after McMahon shared her “final mission” for the agency in a staff memo on Monday.
“My vision is aligned with the president’s: to send education back to the states and empower all parents to choose an excellent education for their children,” she wrote. “This is our opportunity to perform one final, unforgettable public service to future generations of students.”
She warned that the overhauling of the department will “profoundly impact staff, budgets and agency operations.”
McMahon also took a swipe at diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives after dozens of Education Department employees were put on paid leave last month in response to Trump’s executive order banning DEI efforts in the federal government.
She said that taxpayer-funded education “should refocus on meaningful learning in math, reading, science and history—not divisive DEI programs and gender ideology.”
