John,

The Department of Education, as we know it in its current form, was established in 1979 with the passage of the Department of Education Organization Act. The Department of Education oversees curriculum and programs for more than 50 million students in elementary and secondary school in nearly 18,200 school districts across the country, in addition to providing grant and loan assistance of about $10 million to undergraduate students across the country.¹

The DOE impacts every community in every state, which is why it is greatly concerning that Donald Trump has nominated Linda McMahon―someone with no significant background in public education―to lead this critical department.

Linda McMahon served one year on the Connecticut Board of Education and resigned one day after being told by the Hartford Courant they were going to print a story about factually incorrect answers she gave on a vetting questionnaire that all school board appointees are required to complete. The biggest incorrect answer? She misrepresented her own educational background.²

Linda McMahon is grossly unqualified to run the agency that is in charge of implementing the policies and curriculum for more than 50 million of the nation’s school children. The Senate must do its duty and reject her nomination.

Send a direct message to the Senate urging them to reject the nomination of Linda McMahon as the Secretary of Education.

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump may have tried to distance himself from Project 2025, but since Election Day he has begun filling his new administration with many of its authors.³

The very first sentence in Project 2025 under the Department of Education calls for its elimination. It calls for DOE programs to be moved to other agencies, taxpayer and federally funded vouchers to be used at private and charter schools that will receive very little oversight. It calls for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and tribally controlled colleges to be funded through block grants.⁴ Block grant funding means the government will fund a fixed amount that will not be increased despite increasing need.

Each of these policies will devastate public education in this country, particularly for the most marginalized students, and Linda McMahon has been handpicked to implement this policy agenda. During the first Trump administration, McMahon chaired America First Action―a Trump super PAC―and the America First Policy Institute which, like Project 2025, advocated for less federal intervention in education and increased privatization.⁵

As head of the DOE, Linda McMahon would be responsible for overseeing the execution of Title IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sex, including sexual harassment.⁶ Linda McMahon is currently named in a lawsuit claiming that she failed to stop the sexual abuse of minors when she and her husband ran World Wrestling Entertainment in the 1980s.⁷ McMahon is alleged to have failed to act on credible accusations.⁸

There has probably never been a less qualified candidate to lead the Department of Education. It’s critical that the U.S. Senate hears from you now and rejects the nomination of Linda McMahon as Secretary of Education.

Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, CHN Action

¹ Federal Role in Education
² Trump’s education pick once incorrectly claimed to have education degree
³ Trump once shunned Project 2025 as ‘ridiculous.’ Now he’s staffing up with them.
⁴ 2025 Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise
⁵ 'Betsy DeVos 2.0': Trump Picks WWE Billionaire Linda McMahon to Lead Education Department
⁶ Sexual Harassment: It's Not Academic
⁷ Judge Pauses Sexual Abuse Lawsuit Against Trump’s Education Secretary Pick
⁸ Trump’s Education Secretary Pick Named in Sexual Abuse Lawsuit