President-elect Donald Trump has nominated former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) CEO Linda McMahon to run the Department of Education. McMahon, who was the head of the Small Business Administration in Trump’s first term, will seek Senate confirmation with little to no education experience.

McMahon was appointed to the Connecticut state board of education by the governor in 2009. At the time, she responded on the vetting questionnaire that she had a degree in education. But the Hartford Courant reported her bachelor’s degree from East Carolina University was in French. McMahon reportedly also received a teaching certificate from the school. She would later say that she thought her degree was in education because she student taught for a semester.

McMahon resigned from the Connecticut board the day after the Courant informed her it was going to write about the error and other issues in her vetting, according to the paper. McMahon said she resigned to run for Senate, which she has done twice in Connecticut, losing both elections. Her only other connection to education is as board of trustees treasurer of Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT.

If McMahon becomes the Secretary of Education, she is expected to advance the school choice and conservative agenda while trying to fulfill the president-elect's campaign promise of shutting down the Department of Education.

The National Education Association released the following statement after Trump’s announcement of the McMahon nomination:

“By selecting Linda McMahon, Donald Trump is showing that he could not care less about our students’ futures. Rather than working to strengthen public schools, expand learning opportunities for students, and support educators, McMahon's only mission is to eliminate the Department of Education and take away taxpayer dollars from public schools, where 90% of students—and 95% of students with disabilities—learn, and give them to unaccountable and discriminatory private schools.

“During his first term, Donald Trump appointed Betsy DeVos to undermine and ultimately privatize public schools through vouchers. Now, he and Linda McMahon are back at it with their extreme Project 2025 proposal to eliminate the Department of Education, steal resources for our most vulnerable students, increase class sizes, cut job training programs, make higher education more expensive and out of reach for middle class families, take away special education services for disabled students, and put student civil rights protections at risk.”   

While SLJ found no record of McMahon commenting on the topic of book bans, the conservative agenda of Trump and Project 2025  has those who follow censorship concerned.

“I don’t have lots of hope. It could get a lot worse.” Tasslyn Magnusson, who tracks book censorship across the country, told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s not just about taking a book off a shelf. It’s about power and who controls public education. It’s about what kind of America we were and are. We’re trying to define what family is and what America means. That comes down to the stories we tell.”

Should she be confirmed, McMahon will be tasked with following through on the Project 2025 goal and Trump campaign promise of closing the Department of Education. She cannot do that on her own as Secretary of Education, though. Unless the administration finds a way around the rules that require 60 Senate votes to approve such a decision, it is unlikely the department will be abolished, as it is not expected to have enough support.

Instead, McMahon will likely spend her time pushing school choice and “parental rights,” attempting to impact curriculum by withholding federal funding to schools that teach about race and gender, and removing LGBTQIA+ protections for students, particularly trans students. Project 2025 also aims to phase out Title I school funding and eliminate Head Start programs. The administration is expected to stop any student loan forgiveness, as well.

Trump’s anti-union stance, particularly the vocal opposition to teachers’ unions, could also impact K–12 education. Project 2025 seeks to weaken unions, strip worker protections, and outright ban public sector unions, which would include teacher unions.

During Trump’s first term, McMahon stepped down from her position leading the Small Business Administration to run a PAC for Trump’s reelection. She then became board chair of the America First Policy Institute. The think tank’s “America First” K–12 agenda proposes cutting federal funding and oversight and “redirecting resources toward school choice.”

According to reports, McMahon wanted to be Commerce Secretary during Trump’s second term. But when that was given instead to her co-chair of the transition team, Howard Lutnick, Trump nominated her for Secretary of Education. She joins a list of cabinet nominees involved in sexual assault allegations. She is currently being sued in a civil case, accused of knowing about systemic sexual abuse of ring boys in the WWE, which she founded and ran with her husband, Vince McMahon, and not doing anything to protect them. According to The Washington Post, Vince McMahon—who is currently separated from his wife—is under federal investigation for using his position at WWE to conceal and commit sex abuse and trafficking.