CNN
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President-elect Donald Trump has nominated transition co-chair Linda McMahon to be the next secretary of the Department of Education.
The decision, announced by President Trump on Tuesday night, confirming an earlier report by CNN, took shape after it was revealed that McMahon would be succeeded as secretary of commerce. President Trump announced earlier Tuesday that another administration candidate will be appointed after CEO Cantor Fitzgerald put his name forward as a candidate for Treasury secretary, sparking a fight with hedge fund manager Scott Bessent. Transition co-chair Howard Lutnick was nominated for Secretary of Commerce.
“Linda will leverage her decades of leadership experience and deep understanding of both education and business to empower the next generation of American students and workers and make America number one in the world in education. . We are bringing education back to America, and Linda will be at the forefront of that effort,” President Trump said in a statement.
McMahon, a major Republican donor and former professional wrestling executive, served as head of the Small Business Administration during President Trump’s first term. She was appointed in 2017 and resigned in 2019 to become chair of America First Action, a pro-Trump super PAC.
She is the chair of the America First Policy Institute, a pro-Trump think tank founded in 2021 by McMahon, Larry Kudlow and other advisers from the first Trump administration. .
AFPI has raised millions of dollars since its founding and has been described as the “White House in Waiting,” planning potential policy proposals for President Trump’s second term.
Trump’s secretary of education could be tasked with overseeing the abolition of the Department of Education after the president-elect repeatedly advocated for it during his campaign.
It would be difficult to get rid of the entire department, which provides federal funding to nearly every K-12 public school in the country and manages the $1.6 trillion federal student loan portfolio. And shutting it down would require a vote of Congress.
It is likely that some programs will be transferred to other federal agencies. A top goal for many Republicans is to reduce the federal government’s role in local education, which can be accomplished by keeping funding programs in place but providing funds to states and schools with fewer conditions. Probably.
Under the new education secretary, the department could use a formal regulatory process to undo changes the Biden administration made to Title IX in an effort to expand protections for LGBTQ+ students. The new rules could prohibit trans students from playing on women’s sports teams under Title IX, which Trump’s campaign also did.
McMahon is also the former CEO of WWE, which she co-founded with her husband Vince McMahon. As head of WWE, Linda McMahon oversaw its transformation from a small wrestling entertainment company to a publicly traded media empire. She stepped down as CEO in 2009.
Mr. McMahon ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut twice, in 2010 and 2012; She poured her own money into these campaigns, spending $50.1 million in 2010 and $48.7 million in 2012, according to Open Secrets, a nonprofit that tracks campaign finance. Trump donated $5,000 to his campaign in 2012.
McMahon himself is a major donor to the Republican Party. During Trump’s first presidential campaign, McMahon donated more than $7 million to two pro-Trump super PACs, according to Open Secrets.
This heading and article have been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Kate Sullivan and Katie Lobosco contributed to this report.
