Linda McMahon was also pressed on observances for Black History Month and whether she would support more funding for HBCUs and Pell Grants.
Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump‘s nominee for secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, vaguely responded to questions from U.S. senators about whether Black history courses in public schools would violate Trump’s anti-DEI order in education. And while she expressed support for continued funding for HBCUs, McMahon signaled that some schools could lose federal funding for so-called DEI programs.
During her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Thursday, McMahon was asked directly by Senator Chris Murphy, D-Conn., if schools implementing Black History Month programming or celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day would violate Trump’s Jan. 29 order that calls for federal funds to be rescinded from educational institutions that are not in compliance with its K-12 ban on “radical indoctrination,” which it defines as “gender ideology or discriminatory equity ideology.”
“Not in my view; that is clearly not the case,” McMahon said of schools celebrating MLK and BHM observances. She continued, “The celebration of Martin Luther King Day and Black History Month should be celebrated throughout all of our schools.”
However, when Murphy pressed further about African-American history courses, McMahon did not definitively say whether they would violate Trump’s order. “I’m not quite certain … I would like to take a look at these programs and fully understand the breadth of the executive order and get back to you on that,” said the former Small Business Administration administrator during Trump’s first term and founder and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). McMahon had a similar response when asked about whether affinity groups for minorities would also violate Trump’s new executive actions.
Ameshia Cross, communications director at EdTrust, said of McMahon’s hearing testimony, “She was trying not to get in trouble with her soon-to-be boss, make no mistake, should she be confirmed.” She told theGrio, “This is someone who understands and read Project 2025, and this is someone who has had several meetings with President Trump as well as Senate leadership, governors of various states that have already passed anti-DEI legislation and policies long before that executive order came down.”
Cross said it was ironic that McMahon’s global wrestling family business is ironically very diverse, arguing that she understands that DEI is good for business. “The thing that has made her a billionaire has largely been that diversity that she is now willing to cede,” noted Cross.
McMahon did, however, express support for continued funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and for Pell Grants, which are disproportionately relied on by Black students and their families, who are typically low-income. The likely future education secretary said she met with Howard University President Ben Vinson III a week ago. She said the two discussed various programs offered at the prestigious HBCU in Washington, D.C. McMahon vowed, “I look forward to continuing those programs.”
Cross said she is skeptical of McMahon’s assurances on HBCU and Pell Grant funding, telling theGrio, “Watch what she does and not what she says.” She explained, “There’s been no indication from the White House, from DOGE [Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency] … that those two things will be protected.”
Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, also slammed McMahon’s confirmation hearing. In a statement, Pringle said, “Most of us believe every student deserves the opportunity, resources, and support to reach their full potential no matter where they live, the color of their skin, or how much their family earns.” She continued, “But we didn’t hear any of that.”
Another concern among advocates and Democrats is Trump’s expected executive order to essentially wind down the Department of Education as part of his larger goal of eliminating the federal agency. Part of the order calls for federal funding to prioritize school choice as opposed to public school funding. During Thursday’s hearing, Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., asked McMahon if private schools that would receive funding would be able to turn away students based on race, disability, or other typically protected classes under federal law. McMahon didn’t answer the question directly.
Blunt Rochester, the first Black woman to represent Delaware in the Senate, pressed McMahon on whether she would ensure that the civil rights of students of color and other minority groups are protected. McMahon replied, “Certainly civil rights, you know, are the rights of everyone, and so we want to make sure that our schools are enforcing. Bullying shouldn’t happen anywhere. No child should be made to feel uncomfortable.”
McMahon also suggested that the Department of Education’s civil rights office and its functions could be moved to the Department of Justice as the Trump administration aims to “eliminate” the DOE.
Pringle said, if confirmed, McMahon will “dismantle public education as we know it to fund tax cuts for billionaires.” She continued, “Repeatedly when pressed to distance herself from the reckless and illegal executive orders signed by Donald Trump, McMahon simply refused to do so.”
“Our students need an education secretary committed to fully funding the programs that can help them reach their full potential, not siphoning money to send to private schools,” Pringle added.
Cross warned that the Trump administration’s agenda on education involves shifting away from funding programs for college degrees and more toward development or training programs designed for the workforce.
“It’s something that I think is a shift that is largely reflective of the fact more and more Black women, in particular, have degrees as a percentage of the American population than any other group,” she told theGrio. She added, “So making it harder for them to access is a goal here.”
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