Trump names Linda McMahon as his pick for education secretary

President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday named Linda McMahon, a former World Wrestling Entertainment executive who served in the first Trump administration, as his pick to lead the Education Department.

If confirmed by the Senate, McMahon would oversee a department that Trump said he planned to “get rid” of as it currently exists and allow each state to individually “handle education.”

“As Secretary of Education, Linda will fight tirelessly to expand ‘Choice’ to every State in America, and empower parents to make the best Education decisions for their families,” Trump said in a statement that described McMahon as a “fierce advocate for Parents’ Rights.”

McMahon is co-chair of Trump’s presidential transition team. She was head of the Small Business Administration during his first presidency before stepping down from the Cabinet-level post in 2019 to lead the pro-Trump America First Action super PAC.

Before joining the first Trump administration, McMahon served on the Connecticut State Board of Education in 2009, before she resigned to make unsuccessful bids in 2010 and 2012 for U.S. Senate seats in the state.

CNN first reported on McMahon as Trump’s pick for education secretary.

During the 2024 campaign, McMahon was one of Trump’s top donors — contributing more than $20 million to the Make America Great Again Inc. super PAC, as well as $937,800 to his campaign and affiliated joint fundraising committees.

McMahon, 76, is married to former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Vince McMahon.

Trump has said that he plans to sign an executive order that would strip federal funding “from any school pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content onto the shoulders of our children.”

McMahon has criticized diversity, equity and inclusion programs, writing in an op-ed published by Fox News this year that DEI provisions were “irrelevant to training skilled workers,” and such policies “add costs and administrative burdens to all apprenticeship programs.”

On Tuesday, McMahon joined the president-elect and Elon Musk, who was named as co-chair of a new “Department of Government Efficiency,” at the SpaceX Starship launch in Texas.

McMahon is chair of the board at the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank she launched with other former Trump administration officials in 2021. Trump has said he plans to nominate others affiliated with the organization, including former Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia for veteran affairs secretary and former Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.

McMahon is also the latest Cabinet pick from Trump’s transition team. Earlier Tuesday he named Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, who is co-chairing his transition alongside McMahon, as his choice for commerce secretary.