    [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 39 (Thursday, February 27, 2025)]
    [Senate]
    [Pages S1421-S1423]
    From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                          Nomination of Linda McMahon

      Mr. PETERS. Mr. President, I rise today in opposition to Linda
    McMahon's nomination to serve as the Secretary of the Department of
    Education.
      All across America, from small towns like Grand Marais to cities like
    Grand Rapids, public schools serve as the bedrock of our communities.
      As a product of Michigan public schools, the son of a public
    schoolteacher, and having watched my own three children attend public
    schools, I know firsthand the importance of public education.
      Education is the cornerstone of academic achievement, career
    development, and lifelong learning in our society. A strong public
    education system is critical to not only our Nation's economy but
    community safety, social mobility, and the health of our democracy.
      We need a Secretary of Education who values and respects public
    education and the millions of teachers and faculty who support the
    system.
      We need a Secretary of Education who will support critical funding
    streams like Head Start for early education, IDEA for students with
    disabilities, and the school meal program that ensures that no
    student--no student--goes to class hungry.
      That is why we cannot allow Mrs. McMahon to run our Department of
    Education. Instead of working to protect funding for the programs that
    support our students, improve classrooms, and help recruit the hard-
    working teachers that we so desperately need today, Mrs. McMahon has
    made it clear that she has, well, other priorities.
      During her committee hearing, she blatantly supported efforts to
    dismantle our education system, including taking funding away from our
    public schools and using it to make investments in private schools.
    Mrs. McMahon and others have tried to sell this as ``school choice,''
    but we know--we know--that it is basically a voucher program that will
    ultimately give private schools the ability to hand pick students and
    close their doors to everyone else. Private schools have no requirement
    to serve students with disabilities, students with mental health needs,
    or homeless students.
      We have already seen private school voucher programs fail in States
    that have actually implemented them, like Louisiana--Louisiana, where
    students who accepted vouchers experienced significant declines in
    their academic performance, worse than the learning loss caused by the
    COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricane Katrina.
      So-called school choice does not meet the needs of our students, and
    American voters overwhelmingly agree. A 2024 poll found that less than
    a quarter of Americans support increasing funding for school vouchers.
    Meanwhile, 68 percent of Americans want to boost public school funding
    to better support teachers and give our opportunities and children the
    education and career opportunities that they certainly deserve.
      Under Mrs. McMahon's plan, we would be letting private schools decide
    who is educated and who is not. But, unfortunately, we know that these
    private institutions will always prioritize their bottom line, and the
    needs of students and families will be second.
      If confirmed as Secretary of Education, the quality of our American
    education will certainly decline, and our children will ultimately
    suffer the consequences.
      I would urge my colleagues to vote no on Mrs. McMahon's nomination.
      The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.
      Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, over the last few months, there has
    literally been more than 10,000 Californians who have made it a point
    to reach out to me by phone calls, by letters, by emails to say one
    thing loud and clear: Stand up for public education.
      There are students throughout California, teachers throughout
    California, parents throughout California, and I am sure beyond in all
    of our States who are afraid that Donald Trump is going to decimate
    Federal funding for public schools. And from what we have seen, they
    have every right to be concerned.
      You see, only 1 month into office, the richest President in our
    history has teamed up with the richest man in the world to slash public
    funding across the board, including in education.
      They have already terminated nearly $1 billion in contracts with the
    Education Department alone. They have fired or placed on leave
    Education Department staff. These are hard-working Americans dedicated
    to everything from protecting the civil rights of students to special
    education, to student aid. And they are making it clear that this is
    just the beginning.
      President Trump has bragged that he actually wants to eliminate the
    Department of Education, threatening the quality of education of 80
    percent of students who go to public schools.
      Colleagues, that is the situation. That is the context in which we
    find ourselves today as we consider the nomination of Linda McMahon to
    serve as Education Secretary.
      We could talk about Linda McMahon's qualifications, or, frankly, lack
    thereof, but I am not shocked because President Trump isn't looking for
    someone with the background or the commitment to strengthen education
    in America. He is looking for someone to destroy it. President Trump
    has said publicly that he wishes that Mrs. McMahon would ``put herself
    out of a job.'' And it is clear that she is ready to do it. And to
    justify it, I know I have heard of her countless accusations of
    Department of Education overreach or that the Department is just too
    big. Now, if we are saying this because of the budget cuts Republicans
    are starving for to underwrite the tax rate for the wealthy, let me
    remind us all that the Department of Education is the smallest Agency
    in the Cabinet by a lot.
      The Department is responsible, though, for promoting equal access to
    education; ensuring protections and support for students with special
    needs; defending the civil rights of tens of millions of students; and,
    yes, managing the student loans and Pell grants that students need to
    afford an education, just like I did when I was graduating from San
    Fernando High School, trying to figure out how I was going to be able
    to pay for college.
      Yet Linda McMahon and Republicans in Congress will try to sell us on
    the idea that education should be left to States and to local
    communities.
      Tell that to the young student who is struggling to read by the
    fourth grade but whose school doesn't have the resources they need to
    help them catch up. Tell that to the parents of an eighth grader who is
    behind in math who fear that their child will never be able to make up
    the time that they lost during the pandemic.
      While it is true that State and local communities play the primary
    role in education, it is actually the Federal Government that helps
    close the gaps. That is part of what makes our country strong--the idea
    that no matter where you live, no matter who your parents are, or what
    tax bracket your family is in, you have the right to a good education
    because, after all, it is the surest path to achieve your American
    dream.
      And, yes, it is personal for me. As I mentioned, I am a proud product
    of public education, a graduate of San Fernando High School--go Tigers.
    Upon completion of my high school education, I was accepted and had the
    blessed opportunity to attend the Massachusetts Institute of
    Technology, where I earned my degree in mechanical engineering. That
    led to a better life and more opportunities--exactly what my parents
    worked so hard and sacrificed for. That is the American dream. And I
    know that, by far, I am not alone.
      That is why I find it outrageous that Mrs. McMahon and Republicans
    can so callously plan to take a chain saw to the American dreams of so
    many current and future students.
      But, today, we are here to say that tens of millions of public school
    students are not line items on your chopping block. They deserve
    better. Our country is better than this.
      I urge all of my colleagues to reject President Trump's attempts to
    abolish the Department of Education and to reject Linda McMahon's
    nomination or any nominee who is willing to carry out his wishes.
      I yield the floor.
      The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii.
      Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I rise today deeply concerned about the
    state of public education in our country.

    [[Page S1422]]

      Public education is foundational. It allows people to get ahead. As
    simple as that, it is foundational.
      I have spoken before on the floor about the power of public education
    in my own life. As an immigrant from Japan, I arrived in this country
    speaking no English.
      I started off by trying to learn how to count from 1 to 10--very
    humble beginnings. But it was the public education I received at
    schools like Koko Head Elementary and Kaimuki High School that enabled
    me, an immigrant from very humble beginnings, to learn English and to
    go on to college, law school, and, ultimately, the U.S. Senate.
      We should all agree on the importance of a strong public education
    system for every student in our country. An educated citizenry helps
    grow the middle class and drive economic success in red and blue States
    alike.
      Support for public schools should not be a partisan issue. There are
    millions of kids who are attending public schools in every single State
    in our country, so it shouldn't be a partisan issue. But just weeks
    into the Trump administration, public education is under attack.
    Already, chain saw-wielding Elon Musk--it is really hard to get rid of
    that image because he takes such delight in wielding that chain saw and
    willy-nilly cutting all kinds of government programs that we rely on.
    But Elon Musk and his minions have started unilaterally canceling
    contracts at the Department of Education without any transparency or
    accountability whatsoever, and Donald Trump has made no secret of his
    desire to eliminate the Department of Education entirely, as part of
    his quest to cut government services we rely on to give trillions in
    handouts to his billionaire buddies.
      While only Congress has the power to eliminate the Department of
    Education in its entirety, that is not stopping Trump from using every
    means available to weaken Federal support for education. And as you
    heard from my colleague just previously, there is a lot of support for
    public education in our country. Why? Because most of the people in our
    country have to go to public schools.
      The person who will help him do this, meaning totally weaken our
    public school system and eliminate the Department of Education, is
    billionaire Linda McMahon. As Trump's Secretary of Education, she will
    dismantle the Department of Education from the inside out.
      President Trump told her that he wants her to ``put herself out of a
    job'' by eliminating this Department. Since President Trump only
    nominates people who are 100 percent loyal to him, we can expect Linda
    McMahon will comply with putting herself out of a job, which leads us
    to wonder why we are even giving her this job in the first place.
      A nominee tasked to end the very Department that she is supposed to
    be leading does not need to have much by way of experience in leading
    or running such a Department, which is the case with Linda McMahon. In
    her confirmation hearing, Mrs. McMahon could not name a single
    requirement of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the main
    Federal law that supports K through 12 education.
      She couldn't say whether teaching African-American history courses
    violated Trump's Executive order on radical indoctrination. Teaching
    the history of our country is considered radical indoctrination by this
    President. Think about that for a minute.
      She couldn't even answer a simple yes-or-no question about whether
    schools receiving taxpayer dollars should be allowed to discriminate
    against children with disabilities.
      Mrs. McMahon is totally unqualified to oversee the education of our
    Nation's children, but Donald Trump doesn't care about that. Linda
    McMahon will carry out President Trump's dangerous agenda to dismantle
    the Department of Education, privatize the Nation's public schools, and
    strip educational opportunities from millions of students across the
    country.
      In doing so, she will be 100-percent loyal to Donald Trump above all
    else. She will execute the plans laid out in Project 2025 to eliminate
    funding for title I schools, which support low-income students. We are
    talking about funding for 49,000 title I schools throughout the
    country, including 170 schools in my State of Hawaii, 2,091 title I
    schools in Florida, 7,500 title I schools in Texas, and so many more.
    Every single State has title I schools. There are 49,000 title I
    schools throughout our country.
      Project 2025, Trump's blueprint, will have the Secretary of Education
    dismantle civil rights protections for students and weaponize the
    Office of Civil Rights to advance Trump's hateful, far-right political
    agenda. Then the Secretary will come after funding for programs that
    help provide childcare, afterschool care, school meals, and more. Think
    about it: school meals. For many children, that would mean taking away
    access to the only meal a day they can count on.
      Why? Not because she thinks these decisions will improve outcomes or
    benefit students. No. These attacks on the Department of Education are
    about one thing and one thing only: finding money to pay for massive
    giveaways to billionaires like McMahon, Elon Musk, obviously the
    President, and their ilk.
      Republicans are robbing our children's futures to line the pockets of
    their billionaire buddies, and they are robbing our country of future
    doctors, innovators, leaders, and more.
      A strong public education system is the foundation of a strong
    democracy, a strong economy, and a strong middle class. That is why
    Democrats are committed to strengthening our schools and ensuring every
    child has the opportunity to get ahead, regardless of disability,
    income, or background. That starts with our rejecting Linda McMahon's
    troubling nomination to lead the Department of Education, a Department
    that she is going to start dismantling and, indeed, working herself out
    of a job.
      On behalf of students, teachers, and families in Hawaii and all
    across our country, I urge my colleagues to think about it and to
    oppose this nomination.
      I yield the floor.
      The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wisconsin.
      Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. President, I rise today to speak on the importance
    of the Department of Education and my grave concerns about the
    nomination of Linda McMahon to be the Secretary of Education.
      President Trump has made it clear what his directive is for Linda
    McMahon. It is to dismantle the Department of Education. And despite
    President Trump's stating that he has never read Project 2025 and Mrs.
    McMahon repeatedly stating that she is not familiar with Project 2025's
    proposals on higher education, it is abundantly clear that this
    administration is following Project 2025 to a tee.
      Project 2025 lays out a blueprint for ending the Federal Government's
    role in public education, starting with dismantling the Department of
    Education, so that they can find the money they need to provide tax
    breaks for their billionaire friends. You heard me right: cutting
    public education dollars so that the richest can get richer.
      Eliminating the Department of Education would be absolutely
    devastating for students, for teachers, and parents in Wisconsin and
    across America. Wisconsin stands to have $235 million in title I
    funding ripped away. Wisconsin stands to have over $270 million in IDEA
    funding, which is critical for special education, ripped away.
      What this means is Wisconsin teachers stand to have needed resources
    for their classrooms ripped away. Parents stand to have in- and out-of-
    classroom support for their children ripped away. And of course, our
    children--our children--stand to lose out on the public education and
    opportunity to learn that they deserve, regardless of their ZIP code.
      Look, we know we are facing a challenging time in the American
    education system. We know that, as a nation, we must turn the tide and
    ensure that America is a global leader in educating our children, and I
    am committed to working with parents, teachers, principals, and school
    districts to do just that. But we also know what won't help our
    children get a good education, and that is slashing the education
    budget. And we know what will help turn the tide: critical, data-driven
    investment in our public education system to support our children, our
    teachers, our schools, and our communities.
      It is clear that Mrs. McMahon is being nominated for this role not to
    help children but to do Mr. Trump's

    [[Page S1423]]

    bidding. She comes to this role with very little experience in
    education, but she has a wealth of experience in Trump world. She has
    never been a teacher, but she did donate over $20 million to Trump's
    campaign and organizations that are backing him. She has never been a
    school administrator, but she does sit on the board of directors for
    Trump Media & Technology Group.
      In this critical time, we need to be providing our students and
    schools with more support, not less, and I urge my colleagues to join
    me in voting no on her nomination.
      I yield the floor.
      The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.