President-elect Donald Trump is expected to choose Linda McMahon, the former wrestling executive, to lead the Department of Education, two sources familiar with the transition told CBS News on Tuesday.
McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term. 2019 resignation to help with his 2020 re-election campaign.
She is also currently co-chair of Trump’s transition team Howard Lutnickhead of real estate and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald. Trump announced this on Tuesday he chose Lutnick to be his trade secretary.
McMahon and her husband, wrestling entertainment mogul Vince McMahon – who co-founded and ran the WWE decades earlier leaving the company in January following allegations of sexual misconduct – have been friends of Trump for more than 20 years and are among its most prolific donors.
Joshua Roberts/REUTERS
During his presidential election in 2024 campaignTrump promised to close the Ministry of Education, which complains that the agency’s budget is too large and that its staff is filled with “people who, in many cases, hate our children.”
The Department of Education, one of the smallest federal agencies, is responsible for distributing federal government services financial assistance for education, the collection and dissemination of data and research relating to schools, and the prohibition of discrimination in schools.
The funds account for less than 10% of the nation’s public school funding, which is determined primarily by state and local taxes.
Graham Kates contributed to this report.
Finn Gomez
