President Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Education (ED), Linda McMahon, was confirmed today.
As the co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) alongside her husband, Vince McMahon, the mogul has had a longstanding career in business, politics, and public service.
In 2009, McMahon left WWE to try her hand in politics. But after two unsuccessful congressional campaigns in the early 2010s, McMahon shifted her focus to supporting other candidates. As the Associated Press reported, she poured millions into political donations, including $6 million to Trump’s 2016 campaign.
McMahon led the Small Business Administration (SBA) during Trump’s first term from 2017 to 2019. At the SBA, McMahon prioritized modernization, cutting red tape, and expanding access to loans and disaster relief. She visited 68 cities nationwide, promoting policies like the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Her leadership during Hurricane Harvey’s disaster response earned her widespread praise.
After two years, McMahon resigned as head of the SBA and was soon named chairwoman of the pro-Trump Super PAC, America First Action—solidifying herself as an influential figure within the Make America Great Again movement.
In November 2024, Trump, before taking office, nominated McMahon to serve as Secretary of Education. Since then, legacy media groups have criticized her for her lack of experience in education, though she previously served on the Connecticut State Board of Education and as a board member of Sacred Heart University, championing literacy initiatives tied to WWE.
For years, she has advocated for school choice, local control, and charter schools.
In a September 2024 Hill op-ed, she critiqued the traditional “one-size-fits-all” model of higher education, arguing it’s outdated and disconnected from the modern economy. Instead, McMahon supports a diversified system emphasizing skills-based education through shorter-term programs tailored to local industry needs.
McMahon backs the Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act, expanding Pell Grant access for short-term programs in key industries to enhance workforce readiness and economic mobility. She prioritizes education as a driver of national productivity and career success. More notably, she has been a strong critic of DEI initiatives. In a March 2024 op-ed, she condemned Biden’s proposed apprenticeship regulations, arguing that the administration’s DEI mandates impose costly burdens on small and mid-sized businesses, limiting apprenticeship opportunities.
McMahon’s nomination as Secretary of Education has been met with strong support from education reformers who have long pushed for a major overhaul of the Department of Education since, in recent years, the department has stifled innovation, promoted ideological conformity, and silenced dissenting views. Bloated with overlapping programs and entrenched bureaucrats, it has become a sprawling machine that enforces rigid policies at the expense of free inquiry, due process, and authentic educational progress.
National Association of Scholars Policy Director Teresa R. Manning says that a third of eighth graders can’t read at a functional level, and studies suggest that many college students graduate knowing less than when they started; higher education fails to prepare young people for the workforce—or even basic civic responsibility. And calls for student loan forgiveness reveal a widespread lack of financial literacy. This broken system has been allowed to continue for too long, and McMahon’s leadership offers a chance to finally disrupt it, Manning argues. And, as Minding the Campus Managing Editor Jared Gould put it, the Department of Education needs an outsider willing to shake things up; Secretary Mahon can tombstone piledrive the ED.
Minding the Campus and the National Association of Scholars plan to support McMahon’s efforts by outlining a roadmap for much-needed reform.
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Image of Linda McMahon by Gage Skidmore on Flickr
This article was originally published at www.mindingthecampus.org
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