Confirmation hearing for Linda McMahon, Trump’s education secretary pick : NPR

We’re following the confirmation hearings for the incoming Trump administration. See our full politics coverage, and follow NPR’s Trump’s Terms podcast or sign up for our Politics newsletter to stay up to date.

Who: Linda McMahon

Nominated for: secretary of education

You might know her from: Linda McMahon is most well-known for leading World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and helping to build it into a multibillion-dollar business. She also led the U.S. Small Business Administration for about two years under President Trump’s first term.

More about McMahon:

• McMahon’s background in education is limited. She served for about one year on Connecticut’s State Board of Education.
• Up until recently, not much was known about McMahon’s policy positions on education. In January, she shared more about where she stands, including that she supports expanding school choice and career and technical education opportunities for students.
• She held leadership positions at WWE for nearly three decades, including CEO.  
• If confirmed, McMahon would oversee an agency the president has already moved to diminish.

What the education secretary does: The education secretary leads one of the smallest federal agencies, the Department of Education. The agency safeguards the civil rights of students with disabilities, manages the federal student loan portfolio and sends billions of dollars to schools that serve low-income students, among its many responsibilities. Read more on what the department does here.

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What to expect at McMahon’s confirmation hearing:
In recent days, the Trump administration has made sweeping cuts to an independent research arm of the Education Department and put dozens of staffers on paid administrative leave. The White House has also confirmed the president’s plans to shutter department programs that are not protected by law and his plans to call on Congress to close the department entirely.

If a recent House education committee hearing is any indication, McMahon’s confirmation proceedings are likely to focus on how she would handle Trump’s plans to dissolve the department, what she would do to address poor K-12 student achievement and how she would work to enhance school choice.

For more coverage of the new administration follow NPR’s Trump’s Terms podcast