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Linda McMahon wasted no time in announcing plans to “eliminate bureaucratic bloat” at the Department of Education on the day she was sworn into office.
McMahon was sworn in as Education Secretary Monday and it was swiftly followed by her plans to carry out President Donald Trump’s vision for the department — abolishing it. Trump has repeatedly said he wants McMahon, estranged wife of WWE mogul Vince McMahon, to “put herself out of a job” and shut down the department.
“My vision is aligned with the President’s: to send education back to the states and empower all parents to choose an excellent education for their children,” McMahon said in a message sent to staff Monday.
She warned that the overhauling of the department will “profoundly impact staff, budgets and agency operations.”
“We must start thinking about our final mission at the department as an overhaul—a last chance to restore the culture of liberty and excellence that made American education great,” McMahon said.
On Day 1, Education Secretary Linda McMahon warned that the overhauling of the department will ‘profoundly impact staff, budgets and agency operations’ (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
The department sends federal money to public schools, manages student loans and oversees college financial aid. The federal agency does not decide what is taught in public schools and, as of September, its workforce had approximately 4,200 employees, according to the New York Times, making it the smallest of the 15 cabinet executive departments.
McMahon acknowledged that she would need the cooperation of Congress to dismantle the department.
Last month, dozens of Education Department employees were put on paid leave in response to an executive order banning diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the federal government, the Associated Press reported.
Most of the workers don’t work in DEI but had taken an optional diversity course promoted by the department, according to a union that represents department staff. Trump’s order called for government DEI officials to be fired to the “maximum extent allowed by law.
McMahon, pictured during her Senate confirmation hearing last month, said she plans to ‘eliminate bureaucratic bloat’ at the department (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
In her statement, McMahon also lashed out at DEI initiatives and said that taxpayer-funded education “should refocus on meaningful learning in math, reading, science and history—not divisive DEI programs and gender ideology.”
Democrats sounded the alarms about the proposal.
“I’m highly concerned that her interest in destroying the Department of Education will mean children with special needs will not be able to access individualized education plans, that our lower-income students will be able to afford college and higher education, and that our school districts will lose out on critical funding to meet the needs and well being of their students,” New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand told ABC News.
Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state branded McMahon “another unqualified billionaire who doesn’t understand the Department she’s tasked with leading,” while Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont Independent on the Senate Education Committee, added: “We must make the Department of Education stronger and more efficient, not to dismantle it as Trump has proposed.”
