President-elect Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that Linda McMahon, his transition co-chair, has been chosen to head the Department of Education. This selection comes as Trump and his allies reiterate their intention to dismantle the agency altogether.

McMahon, 76, previously led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term. Before entering public service, she was the CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, a company she co-founded with her husband, Vince McMahon.

“Linda will use her decades of Leadership experience, and deep understanding of both Education and Business, to empower the next Generation of American Students and Workers, and make America Number One in Education in the World,” Trump said in his announcement.

Trump, now 78, explained that McMahon’s role will include advocating for a stronger emphasis on state-level education policies. Additionally, she will prioritize expanding school choice programs across the nation.

“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. He highlighted her efforts as a prominent advocate for parents’ rights through her leadership at the America First Policy Institute think tank.

“We will send Education BACK TO THE STATES, and LINDA will spear head that effort,” he added, underscoring her leadership role in reshaping education policy.

McMahon has prior experience in education, having served on the Connecticut Board of Education for two years and as a trustee at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, for over 16 years.

Her political career includes two unsuccessful Republican campaigns for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut. Despite these setbacks, Trump praised her current role, stating, “She is now doing an incredible job as a Co-Chair of our Trump-Vance Transition Team.”

During his campaign, Trump frequently criticized the influence of “wokeness” in public schools, vowing to eliminate “left-wing indoctrination” in the classroom.

He has pledged to cut federal funding for schools that promote “Critical Race Theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial …. or political content.” Furthermore, Trump has proposed hefty fines for public universities—potentially up to their entire endowment—if they continue to support diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

Speaking at a September rally in Wisconsin, Trump expressed enthusiasm for his return to office, saying he was “dying” to dismantle the federal Department of Education. “We will drain the government education swamp and stop the abuse of your taxpayer dollars to indoctrinate America’s youth with all sorts of things that you don’t want to have our youth hearing,” he stated.

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who are leading Trump’s initiative to streamline the federal government, have also shown support for abolishing the Department of Education.

“Very reasonable proposal,” Ramaswamy commented in response to a tweet from Corey DeAngelis, a conservative education advocate, suggesting the department’s elimination. Musk simply replied, “Yes.”

{Matzav.com}