McMahon confirmed as Secretary of Education

Posted on March 4, 2025

The Senate voted along party lines on Monday evening to confirm Linda McMahon as the next Secretary of Education. McMahon, a former professional wrestling executive and wealthy Republican donor, served as the administrator of the Small Business Administration in the first Trump Administration. She now leads a department that President Trump has proposed eliminating.

A former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment and chairman of America First Action, a pro-Trump Super PAC, McMahon has been a longtime ally of President Trump. She launched two unsuccessful campaigns to represent Connecticut in the Senate and previously served on the Connecticut State Board of Education for one year. She has also served as a trustee at Sacred Heart University for over a decade.

McMahon told reporters during her confirmation process that she “wholeheartedly” agrees with President Trump’s mission to dismantle the “bureaucracy in Washington” and return education to the states. She added that her goal is to make the Education Department “operate more efficiently,” not to defund programs. Her confirmation, however, comes in the midst of an aggressive government overhaul project, led by Elon Musk, that has targeted the department and its employees. On Friday, employees in the department were given an offer of up to $25,000 if they agreed to retire or resign by the end of the day. President Trump has also told reporters that he hopes McMahon will “work herself out of a job.”

McMahon will now take over leadership of the department of over 4,200 employees in charge of sending federal money to schools, administering college financial aid, and managing federal student loans.

Lutnick Confirmed as Commerce Secretary

Posted on February 19, 2025

By a vote of 51 – 45, the Senate confirmed Tuesday evening Howard Lutnick as the Secretary of Commerce. While the issue of tariffs may be the most high profile issue under the jurisdiction of the department, a number of scientific and research agencies are also under its purview, including the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

During his confirmation hearing, a number of Senators asked him for his views about NOAA and reports of possible changes to the agency. Though he expressed his support for the agency, he did not explicitly commit to keeping agency intact in its current form.

Federal Funding Freeze Rescinded

Posted on February 3, 2025February 3, 2025

A controversial memo released by the Trump Administration last week has been rescinded after a federal judge in Rhode Island temporarily blocked it. Just over a week after the inauguration, the new administration announced that it would temporarily halt federal payments to ensure that they were ideologically aligned with the administration’s priorities. The order caused wide-spread concern before U.S. District Chief Judge John McConnel of Rhode Island granted the request for a temporary restraining order sought by a coalition of Democratic-led states, preventing the now-rescinded memo from taking effect. Links to the documents can be found below.

Temporary Restraining Order

Original Office of Management and Budget Memo

Agencies Have Shutdown Processes in Place

Posted on December 20, 2024

As a result of past shutdowns and experiences with near shutdowns, agencies have developed policies and procedures to address such occurrences. The White House Office of Management and Budget maintains a central repository of individual agency policies, available here.

Trump Taps Linda McMahon to lead Education Department

Posted on November 20, 2024

On Tuesday, President-elect Donald Trump tapped Linda McMahon, a longtime ally and co-chair of his transition team, to lead the Department of Education. McMahon served as head of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term.

McMahon’s relationship with the President-elect spans decades, beginning when she and her husband founded World Wrestling Entertainment, or WWE. After stepping down from her role as chief executive of WWE, McMahon was appointed to the Connecticut State Board of Education, a position she held for one year before launching two unsuccessful campaigns to represent Connecticut in the Senate.

Following her Senate bids, McMahon became a prominent Republican donor and vocal supporter of then-candidate Trump. After his victory in the 2016 election, McMahon was chosen to lead the Small Business Administration. The choice was praised by Senators Blumenthal and Murphy, the two Democrats who defeated her in her Senate campaigns. Blumenthal praised her as “a person of serious accomplishment and ability,” with Murphy calling McMahon a “talented and experienced businessperson.” McMahon resigned from her post without controversy in 2019 and was praised by Trump as “one of our all-time favorites” and a “superstar.”

McMahon stayed close to Trump following her departure from the administration, chairing America First Action, a super PAC that backed Trump’s 2020 presidential run. Following his loss in the 2020 election, she helped to start the America First Policy Institute, a conservative policy group advocating for Trump’s agenda and preparing for a second term. McMahon has been serving as the co-chair of Trump’s transition team with Howard Lutnick, a Wall Street executive who was recently tapped to lead the Commerce Department.

President-elect Trump has repeatedly called for the dissolution of the Department of Education, and McMahon will now lead the agency. In a statement, Trump said that 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.”

The America First Policy Institute has advocated for the elimination of degree requirements for public sector careers, the abolishment of DEI initiatives at state universities, and the reversal of President Biden’s student debt relief plan.

While serving on the Connecticut State Board of Education, McMahon told lawmakers that she had initially planned to become a teacher and had a lifelong interest in education. Additionally, she spent many years as a trustee for Sacred Heart University in Connecticut