WASHINGTON: Donald Trump nominated Linda McMahon, former CEO of World Wrestling Enter­tainment, on Tuesday to lead the Department of Education, which he has pledged to abolish.

Describing McMahon as a “fierce advocate for Parents’ Rights,” Trump said in a statement: “We will send Education BACK TO THE STATES, and Linda will spearhead that effort.” McMahon is a co-chair of Trump’s transition team ahead of his return to the White House in January. It is tasked with filling some 4,000 positions in the government.

Regarding McMahon’s experience in education, Trump cited her two-year stint on the Connecticut Board of Education and 16 years on the board of trustees at Sacred Heart University, a private Catholic school. McMahon left WWE in 2009 to run in vain for US Senate, and has been a major donor to Trump.

Since 2021, she has chaired the Centre For The American Worker at the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute. During the election campaign Trump promised to do away with the federal education department when he returns to the White House.

“I say it all the time. I’m dying to get back to do this. We will ultimately eliminate the federal Department of Education,” he said in September during a rally in Wisconsin.

At the Republican convention in Milwaukee, McMahon said she was “privileged to call Donald Trump a colleague and a boss,” as well as “a friend.”

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2024