Written By Jessica Blake
When President-elect Donald Trump wanted to find his next education secretary, he turned not to state officials with a record of overhauling education, but rather to a former wrestling executive with a short résumé in the sector.
It’s a move that shocked some analysts while delighting Republican lawmakers and conservative groups. Other politicians and education experts alike are withholding judgment until Linda McMahon is formally nominated.
Reactions to McMahon’s selection centered on her background as cofounder and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment and what her lack of education policy experience could mean for the future of the department.
“Absurdity when spoken aloud sounds like, ‘Let’s put the lady that led mostly faux entertainment wrestling in charge of our nation’s school system,’” said Shaun Harper, a professor of education, public policy and business at the University of Southern California and an opinion contributor to Inside Higher Ed.
But others say that McMahon’s business background will be an asset to the agency. To former education secretary Margaret Spellings, who served under President George W. Bush, McMahon’s selection “makes a lot of sense.”
“When people say, ‘Well she’s not a teacher,’ I say, ‘The department is not a school,’” Spellings told Inside Higher Ed. “The department is essentially a big bank. It’s a management job.”
McMahon served in Trump’s cabinet during his first term, is a co-chair of his transition and was key to founding the American First Policy Institute, a pro-Trump think tank. A former Trump appointee who served in the department during the first term said that her AFPI role makes her loyalty clear and suggests that she and Trump will have a lot of synergy in how to approach things moving forward.
Trump has repeatedly vowed to shut down the Education Department, overhaul the accreditation system, crack down on campus antisemitism and revamp management of the student loan portfolio, among other plans for education.
“We will send Education BACK TO THE STATES, and Linda will spearhead that effort,” Trump wrote in his statement announcing McMahon as secretary.
McMahon added in a social media post Wednesday that she is committed to ensuring every student has access to a quality education.
“I’ve witnessed the transformative power of education, both in the classroom and also in apprenticeship programs,” McMahon said. “All students should be equipped with the necessary skills to prepare them for a successful future. I look forward to working collaboratively with students, educators, parents and communities to strengthen our educational system; ensuring every child regardless of their demographics is prepared for a bright future.”
But no matter how aligned McMahon and Trump are, they both will have to break through the department’s many layers of bureaucracy to get anything done, let alone the big, bold reforms Trump has proposed, the former appointee said.
Business Ties
For conservative lawmakers and analysts, McMahon’s successful business career and previous experience leading a federal agency make her an ideal candidate to clean up what they see as a dysfunctional department.
“Neither the secretary, nor her boss, the president, gets to unilaterally decide to raze the Department of Education,” Neal McCluskey, director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom, wrote in a blog post. “The main thing the secretary should be—until the job is ended—is a good administrator.”
McMahon served as director of the Small Business Administration for two years in Trump’s first term. That agency runs several programs to support small businesses, including providing loans and helping with disaster recovery.
Right-leaning education experts particularly cite the disastrous rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid and the growing student loan portfolio, which the department manages, as areas that could benefit from McMahon’s background.
“Running federal student aid is the biggest Department of Education function, and it has long been decrepit, perhaps because secretaries have never come from financial backgrounds,” McCluskey wrote. McMahon spent much of her career “running steel cage matches and not red tape machines. But she probably knows something about efficiency and effectiveness,” he added.
Efficiency will likely be a key focus for McMahon, as Trump and his advisers want to cut federal spending. He’s already tapped supporters Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, and Vivek Ramaswamy, who also ran for president, to run the new Department of Governmental Efficiency.
Similarly, Jason Altmire, president of Career Education Colleges and Universities, a national trade association representing for-profit technical institutions, said in his statement that McMahon’s “extensive experience” primes her to prioritize the repeal of regulations that hurt institutions—particularly private technical ones.
McMahon has also expressed a focus on workforce development and support for short-term certifications. She penned an op-ed for The Hill supporting legislation to open up the federal Pell Grants to students enrolled in programs that take 15 weeks or less to complete—a long-running effort on the Hill that’s gathered momentum in recent years.
Representative Tim Walberg, a Michigan Republican who is vying to chair the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said he plans to partner with McMahon in overhauling the department to better serve students and “root out the woke DEI initiatives.”
“Our educational institutions must be better connected with real-world jobs and in-demand fields,” Walberg said in a public statement. “This is something Linda understands, and I look forward to her swift confirmation so we can get to work and deliver for the American people.”
Some Ties to Higher Ed
Although she studied French and earned a certification to teach during her time at East Carolina University, McMahon spent most of her career in the world of wrestling.
Her most notable connection to higher education has been her service to Sacred Heart University, a private Catholic institution in Connecticut, where McMahon has been a trustee since 2004 and currently serves as treasurer.
“Linda’s generosity to Sacred Heart over the years has been tremendous,” Sacred Heart president John J. Petillo said in a statement. “She cares deeply about our students and understands our mission … We are confident that Linda’s leadership will bring enormous value to the education system, just as it has to Sacred Heart University.”
McMahon also spearheaded several charitable programs related to literacy and educational goal setting during her time at WWE and has been on the boards for several education and workforce development nonprofits.
Policy analysts and other experts say that McMahon will likely support school choice programs nationwide based on her involvement with the American First Policy Institute, which has worked to expand private school vouchers and tax credits.
“I agree with President Trump’s statement that we need someone who is going to focus on parental choice in children’s education,” said Dr. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican and incoming chair of the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. “I look forward to meeting with her.”
Cassidy’s committee will hold McMahon’s confirmation hearing.
Advocacy groups that have been critical of Trump sharply criticized the decision to nominate McMahon, arguing that her lack of experience could lead to fewer protections for students and diminished opportunities
“Donald Trump has chosen yet another unqualified, dangerous sycophant to carry out his agenda,” Gaylynn Burroughs, vice president of education and workplace justice at the National Women’s Law Center, said in a statement. “Despite the Department’s civil rights roots and student-centered mission, his consolation prize to McMahon makes it clear that students are not important.” (McMahon was reportedly passed over for commerce secretary, a job she wanted.)
Waiting to Decide
Representative Bobby Scott, a Virginia Democrat and ranking member of the House education committee, said it is because of McMahon’s very lack of experience in education that he will “wait to pass judgment on her nomination” until she has undergone a full vetting process. But he remains wary of the secretary-designee. He worries that, as a Trump loyalist, her agenda will include slashing funds for minority-serving K-12 schools and repealing student loan forgiveness policies.
“I will always work to find common ground when I can and advance policies that support America’s students,” Scott said in a statement. “But I will never compromise on the fundamental principle that education is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.”
Associations representing colleges and universities, while they have largely congratulated McMahon on her nomination, also suggest that they will be waiting to see what she prioritizes and how she leads before deciding how they feel about her as secretary.
“We … see many opportunities to work with her to advance policies that will benefit all Americans and ensure that students from all walks of life are able to reach their fullest potential,” said Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education. “Ensuring college access and affordability, supporting student success, and advancing cutting-edge research that saves lives and protects our national security are just some of the common priorities we look forward to working on.”