WASHINGTON — In her first hours as the new Education secretary, Linda McMahon wasted no time informing U.S. Education Department employees in an email titled “Our Department’s Final Mission” of her plans to “overhaul” the federal agency.
McMahon — sworn in shortly after the Senate confirmed her bid Monday evening in a party-line vote — is already carrying out President Donald Trump’s sweeping education vision, part of which, she said, is “to send education back to the states and empower all parents to choose an excellent education for their children.”
Trump, who’s said he wants McMahon “to put herself out of a job,” could soon issue an executive order that lays out his pledge to diminish the department, though it would take an act of Congress to abolish it entirely. The email, also posted on the Education Department website, did not mention any upcoming executive order.
Former wrestling exec
McMahon is a former World Wrestling Entertainment executive and served as head of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term.
She’s now in charge of the department that, among many responsibilities, enforces civil rights cases, provides funding for low-income school districts, administers federal student aid and guarantees a free public education for children with disabilities.
But the push to move education “back to the states” comes as much of the funding and oversight of schools already occurs at the state and local level. The federal government also has little say, in general, over the curriculum of schools across the country.
“The Department of Education’s role in this new era of accountability is to restore the rightful role of state oversight in education and to end the overreach from Washington,” McMahon wrote to employees at the department, which has already witnessed dramatic shifts in the weeks since Trump took office.
“This restoration will profoundly impact staff, budgets, and agency operations here at the Department,” she added, noting that in the coming months, the department would work with Congress and other federal agencies to “determine the best path forward to fulfill the expectations of the President and the American people.”
“We will eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy so that our colleges, K-12 schools, students, and teachers can innovate and thrive,” she said.
In January, Kentucky GOP Rep. Thomas Massie reintroduced a bill in the House that would “terminate” the department.
Parental rights, DEI
McMahon outlined three of the department’s “convictions,” including the administration’s push for parental rights — a core component of Trump’s education platform.
She also said “taxpayer-funded education should refocus on meaningful learning in math, reading, science, and history — not divisive DEI programs and gender ideology” and “postsecondary education should be a path to a well-paying career aligned with workforce needs.”
Even before McMahon secured her post as Education secretary, Trump began carrying out a series of education-related executive orders, including one that prioritizes school choice funding and another on ending what the administration sees as “radical indoctrination in K-12 schooling.”
He also fulfilled his long-held campaign promise to ban transgender athletes from participating on women’s school sports teams consistent with their gender identity. A GOP-led effort in the U.S. Senate that would help codify that executive order into law failed to advance Monday.
This story was first published Feb. 10, 2025 by States Newsroom.