DOGE Makes Cuts at Department of Education as Linda McMahon Faces Senators

President Trump said he’d like to shut down the U.S. Department of Education “immediately.” But the president’s nominee for Education Secretary admitted that such a move would require congressional approval. 

In her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Linda McMahon told Senators that approval is needed.

“We’d like to do this right,’’ said McMahon. “We’d like to make sure that we are presenting a plan that I think our senators could get on board with, and our Congress could get on board with.’’

McMahon also noted that shutting down the agency does not mean the funding stops flowing for schools, adding that the goal is to operate the funding mechanisms more efficiently and return control of education to the states. 

Responding to a question on whether she would defund Pell Grants, which provide financial assistance to lower income college students, McMahon said that “Defunding is not the goal here.” She added that she’d “like to see an expansion of Pell Grants. I’d like to see short-term certificates … for students who aren’t going on to four-year universities, who could have the opportunity to use Pell Grants for skill-based learning.”

McMahon helped build World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) alongside her husband Vince McMahon. She served as administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) in President Trump’s first term, although her experience in education is limited to one-year on Connecticut's State Board of Education. 

A vote is pending on her McMahon’s nomination. 

DOGE Brings Spending Cuts, “Audit” to Education Funding

Meanwhile, the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is quickly cutting expenses in the Department of Education. 

Nearly $900 million was slashed from the Institute of Education Sciences, as 169 contracts which make up the bulk of the Institute’s work, were terminated. Those contracts tracked everything from student progress to research on the effectiveness of supports for youth with disabilities.

The Department also canceled $600 million “in grants to institutions and nonprofits that were using taxpayer funds to train teachers and education agencies on divisive ideologies. 

And it canceled $350 million in contracts to Regional Educational Laboratories and Equity Assistance Centers accusing the programs of wasting money on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. 

Educators say the cuts are hurting their ability to attract qualified teachers, as they deal with a persistent shortage. 

“Our educators use these grants to build strategies so students with special needs or those who need more attention can get it and learn the same lessons their peers are,” said American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) president Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy. “Confronting bias is not a bad thing.”