Senate confirms Linda McMahon to lead Department of Education

Linda McMahon has been confirmed to lead the Department of Education.

The United States Senate moved to confirm McMahon’s nomination as Secretary of Education Monday on a 51-45 vote along party lines. This would mark the second time that McMahon has served in President Donald Trump’s cabinet. During his first term, McMahon served as the administrator of the Small Business Administration, being approved by the Senate back in 2017 on a bipartisan 81-19 vote.

During McMahon’s congressional hearing last month, Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin brought up an active lawsuit against Linda & Vince McMahon and WWE relating to the ring boy scandal of the 1980s and 1990s. Baldwin asked McMahon if she could be trusted to support sexual assault survivors on college campuses. McMahon replied in the affirmative.

“I have a granddaughter that is now in college. I have two grandsons who are in college. And I have a deep commitment of understanding of how I would feel if any of them were involved in sexual harassment or accused of sexual harassment,” she said. “You have my absolute commitment that I will uphold and protect those investigations to make sure that those students are treated fairly on both sides.”

Despite McMahon being confirmed for the department’s top position, President Trump has made moves to abolish the Department of Education, wishing to leave schools to be run by the states. Trump said back in February that he hopes McMahon does a great job while also putting herself out of a job. Eliminating the Department of Education completely would require congressional approval.