Senate Advances McMahon In Party Line 12-11 Vote

First, a message from the Education Trust:

Her background underscores why she is unfit for this role. As the former head of the Small Business Administration in Trump’s first term, McMahon approached governance through a corporate lens, prioritizing budget cuts and deregulation over public service.

Her leadership at the America First Policy Institute — a think tank committed to advancing Trump’s Project 2025 blueprint — has actively promoted pro-voucher policies that undermine public education and strip students of critical resources and opportunities they need to achieve the American dream.

Simply put, she is a billionaire businesswoman who is completely out of touch with what American families want and need for their children, with zero experience in education. This puts students — especially students of color, students from low-income backgrounds and from rural areas, and students with disabilities — at risk.

Simply put: We need the Department of Education, and we need a Secretary who will faithfully execute their role and responsibilities to ensure our nation’s students have every opportunity to receive a high-quality education.

Project 2025 explicitly calls for eliminating the agency responsible for enforcing civil rights protections, distributing federal education funding, and holding states accountable for student performance. Without this oversight, students — especially those from low-income backgrounds, students of color, and students with disabilities — will face increased disparities in access to high-quality education.

McMahon has openly supported school vouchers, which funnel taxpayer dollars into private schools that can discriminate against students with disabilities, LGBTQ+ youth, and English learners. With 90% of America’s children attending public schools, this approach would devastate the education system, leaving underfunded schools to struggle even further.

There much more.