President-elect Donald Trump has chosen his longtime supporter and former WWE CEO, Linda McMahon, to head his education department—an agency he had previously pledged to eliminate.
At 76, McMahon had been the head of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s initial term and has been influential as the co-chair on his transition team.
During Trump’s absence from office, she chaired two vital organizations that contributed to his return to the presidency: the Super PAC America First Action and the America First Policy Institute, a think tank focused on promoting and implementing Trump’s “Make America Great Again” policy initiatives.
“Over the past four years, as Chair of the Board at the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), Linda has strongly advocated for Parents’ Rights, working diligently at both AFPI and America First Works (AFW) to establish Universal School Choice in 12 states, enabling children to have access to a quality education regardless of their zip code or economic status,” Trump remarked in a statement following McMahon’s selection.
“Linda will leverage her extensive leadership experience and profound knowledge of education and business to empower the upcoming generation of American students and workers, ensuring that America stands as the leader in education globally. We will return education responsibilities BACK TO THE STATES, and Linda will lead this initiative.”
McMahon first gained Trump’s attention through her leadership at WWE, a role she vacated in 2009 after founding the company with her husband, Vince McMahon.
Following her tenure at WWE, McMahon unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut as a Republican on two occasions, pouring significant personal funds into her campaigns: $50 million in 2010 and $48 million in 2012, as noted by the watchdog group OpenSecrets. In contrast, her opponents, Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, only raised $8.7 million and $10.5 million, respectively.
Additionally, McMahon has been one of Trump’s most substantial financial supporters, donating over $7 million of her own funds to the Super PACs backing the president-elect’s 2016 campaign.
According to four knowledgeable sources speaking to CNN, McMahon’s upcoming nomination to lead the Education Department came after she was overlooked for the position of Commerce Secretary, which eventually went to her co-transition chair, Howard Lutnick.
The Department of Education represents a significant role in Trump’s cabinet—one that will attract considerable scrutiny given his campaign trail promise to dismantle it.
“One additional objective I plan to pursue early in the administration is to shut down the Department of Education in Washington D.C. and delegate all educational responsibilities and necessities back to the states,” Trump said in a video last year. “We want the states to manage our children’s education because they will do a far superior job.”
