[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.