Linda McMahon, President Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Education, said she “wholeheartedly” agrees with his plan to abolish the federal agency.
The statement came in response to questions posed by Democratic Sens. Andy Kim (N.J.) and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) ahead of a full Senate vote on her confirmation.
“President Trump believes that the bureaucracy in Washington should be abolished so that we can return education to the states, where it belongs,” McMahon wrote to the senators. “I wholeheartedly support and agree with this mission.”
The statement does not come as a surprise as McMahon made it clear during her confirmation hearing she believed the department should be abolished and its core tasks moved to other agencies.
Last week, McMahon was confirmed by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in a party-line vote, sending her to a full Senate vote before she is expected to become the secretary of the department.
With Republicans in control of the Senate, it is likely she will be confirmed.
“Linda McMahon has made clear her top responsibility is complete and total loyalty to President Trump, including her openness to dissolve the very department she would be confirmed to run,” Kim said.
“As the administration’s illegal funding freeze threatens already scarce resources for schools and critical programs, her blind loyalty is dangerous. Instead of treating education as a public good that is a foundation for our society, the Trump administration is trying to demonize it and change it in ways that will leave many children vulnerable,” he continued. “We cannot let them.”
