[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 40 (Monday, March 3, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1452-S1453]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Nomination of Linda McMahon
Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I got my start in politics as a mom in
tennis shoes fighting to protect a preschool program, and I still wear
that label proudly. I am a former preschool teacher. I am also a former
community college educator, and I am also a former school board member.
So I don't mess around when it comes to making sure every single one of
our students, in every corner of our country, has access to quality
public education, one that leaves them prepared for the future and
opens the doors of opportunity wide. It is not a responsibility I take
lightly; it never will be.
Our kids are the future of this country, and the Department of
Education is really at the heart of how we make sure they are set up
for success. But Donald Trump and Elon Musk want to rip the heart out
of public education in America and abolish the Department of
Education--well, not if I can help it.
That is why I believe we need a leader at the Department of Education
who actually believes in the mission of the Department of Education. We
need a Secretary of Education with a really deep understanding of how
to use this crucial position to strengthen educational opportunities
and outcomes for every student in this country. We need a Secretary of
Education who will put students first, not billionaires; who will stand
up for our kids--every single one of them--even if it means standing up
to Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
On each of these counts, Linda McMahon fails to make the grade. I
have had concerns from the outset about whether Mrs. McMahon has the
experience we should expect from an Education Secretary, and I am sorry
to say my concerns have not been alleviated--far from it.
I asked her in our confirmation hearing about the Every Student
Succeeds Act. That is the law I negotiated with Republicans to finally
fix No Child Left Behind and to provide more flexibility to our States
and schools, while ensuring accountability for our tax dollars. She
couldn't name a single requirement of that law--not one. How is she
supposed to enforce our education laws when she didn't even bother to
study up before her Senate confirmation hearing?
On fighting for public schools, it is painfully clear that McMahon's
plan for our students and schools is in lockstep with Trump's pro-
billionaire agenda. They are going to let public schools get robbed
blind as the richest people in the world suck money out of our schools
and communities that need it the most. They are going to cut off
funding that directly supports our students and teachers and send it
straight to the pockets of unaccountable private and for-profit K
through 12 schools.
And on standing up for our students, standing up to President Trump,
Linda McMahon got it backward. When I asked her, at the hearing, about
making sure schools get the money that we--Congress--pass, even if
Trump and Musk try to block it, and making sure
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that our students' data is protected, as DOGE tries to muck around with
no oversight or accountability, she made it very clear she would not
stand in their way.
But it gets worse, because when it comes to Trump's mission of
destroying the Department of Education, she is all too ready to grab a
hatchet and get to work.
The irony is that while Trump and Musk talk about eliminating the
Department of Education, they are trying to involve the Federal
Government even deeper into the schools than ever before. They talk
about how schools and parents know best, and then they threaten schools
if they don't do what they say. Apparently, Mrs. McMahon thinks: Why
should we have a Department of Education if Trump and Elon Musk can
actually just tell schools what they can do and what they can teach?
Let's be clear on what it will mean if Trump, Musk, and McMahon have
their way and try to turn the Department of Education into something
that kids read about in our history books. There are 26 million K
through 12 students from low-income neighborhoods who could see their
schools lose Federal funding, lay off teachers, or even close. There
are 9.8 million students at our rural schools that count on Federal
support, which could face similar challenges. There are 7.4 million
students with disabilities who could see the IDEA Program upended,
cutting off support that State and local taxpayers will need to
provide.
There are 6.6 million students who get Pell grants to help them
afford college or enter the workforce or further their careers who
would be impacted by the chaos of abolishing the Department. And there
are 8.1 million high school students and 3.3 million college students
who are served by our career and technical education programs that are
administered by the Department of Education.
Trying to abolish the Department, or even just taking a wrecking ball
to the critical work that it does, will hurt our students who face
homelessness. It will cut off Federal aid to students who want to
pursue a higher education. It will undermine the enforcement of the
rights of students with disabilities. It will reduce assistance
intended to lift up students not getting the support they need. It will
weaken protections for students and scrap evidence-based research that
helps us know what is working, for whom, and how. And it will leave
for-profit colleges free to rip off students and families, which we
have seen happen in the past, and we can't let that happen again.
So the fact that Mrs. McMahon has not opposed Trump's grand plan to
abolish the Department of Education is not just a redflag to me. It is
a blinking, blaring fire alarm. It means either she doesn't fully
understand just what the Department does and how devastating it would
be to abolish it, or she doesn't care. Either way, I find that
disqualifying.
So here is my message to everyone. Like any good preschool teacher, I
will make it short and simple: We cannot have a Secretary of Education
who doesn't believe in having a Secretary of Education.
It is kind of common sense. Why would we have someone in charge of
the Education Department who thinks it should not exist, who doesn't
care if we have a Department focused on getting our students and
schools the support they need.
Madam President, let me finish with this. I still have in my office a
quilt that my kids in my preschool made for me on the very last day I
taught preschool. It is hung prominently on the wall of my biggest
meeting room. It is a beautiful patchwork of squiggles and smiles drawn
in bright, messy crayon. When I look at it, I remember the little hands
that made each one of those squares. I think about those little heads
with big, curious minds and a world of possibility before them. I
remember the responsibility that we all felt to make sure they were
leaving our preschool ready to succeed. I wonder how many of those
children that made those little, small squares now have kids of their
own, and I reflect on how the decisions we make in education today--the
policies that we fight for, the people that we confirm or reject here--
will set a course for our children and our country for years to come.
There are two clear courses ahead of us with this vote: one where we
have a Department of Education that continues to work to support every
student and give them the brightest possible future or one where we
don't--one where every kid is on their own, one where lights are turned
off and doors are shut and opportunities are closed, unless you happen
to have the right ZIP Code or the right money.
I know which future I am going to vote for today: the one where we
live up to our responsibility and all of our kids can live up to their
fullest potential and pursue big dreams. I urge my colleagues to join
me today in voting for that future and against Linda McMahon for
Secretary of Education.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama.