Honestly, if you had "professional wrestling mogul" on your 2024 bingo card for the person running the nation’s schools, you’re either a psychic or you’ve been paying very close attention to how Donald Trump picks his inner circle.
Linda McMahon. That’s the name.
She isn't just a donor or a familiar face from the first term. As of early 2026, she is the 13th U.S. Secretary of Education, having been confirmed by the Senate in March 2025. But if you think her job is just "running" the department in the traditional sense, you’re kinda missing the bigger picture.
The goal isn't just to manage the Department of Education. For this administration, the goal has basically been to dismantle it from the inside out.
Who Exactly Is Linda McMahon?
Most people know her as the co-founder of WWE. She’s the woman who helped turn a regional wrestling promotion into a global juggernaut. But her path to the Cabinet wasn't just a straight line from the wrestling ring to Washington.
Before this, she served as the head of the Small Business Administration (SBA) during Trump’s first term. She was actually one of the few people to leave that administration without a public falling out or a Twitter-storm directed at her. After leaving the SBA in 2019, she went on to chair the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), a think tank that basically spent four years writing the "how-to" guide for a second Trump term.
Education-wise, she served a year on the Connecticut State Board of Education back in 2009. Critics say that’s a thin resume for someone overseeing the education of 50 million K-12 students. Supporters, however, point to her business acumen. They argue that the department is a bloated bureaucracy that needs a CEO, not a career academic.
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The Strategy: Breaking Up the "Bureaucracy"
Trump’s head of Department of Education isn't just sitting in an office signing papers. She’s been remarkably busy executing a strategy that looks a lot like "outsourcing."
In late 2025, McMahon announced a series of interagency agreements (IAAs). This sounds like boring government-speak, but it's actually a massive shift. Essentially, the Department of Education is handing over the keys to other agencies:
- Department of Labor (DOL): They are now taking over a huge chunk of K-12 and postsecondary grant programs. The idea is to align school with "workforce development."
- Department of the Interior (DOI): They’ve taken the lead on Indian Education programs.
- Health and Human Services (HHS): They’re getting more involved in programs involving student-parents and childcare.
McMahon calls this "returning education to the states." By moving these functions to other departments, the administration is effectively hollowing out the Department of Education’s core staff. In fact, reports suggest nearly half of the department's staff have already been cut or moved as of early 2026.
What’s Actually Changing in Schools?
If you’re a parent or a student, you might not care about "interagency agreements." You care about what happens in the classroom. Here is the reality of the McMahon era so far.
1. The "Patriotic Education" Push
McMahon has introduced something called the "History Rocks! Trail to Independence" tour. It’s part of a broader push for "patriotic education" leading up to the U.S. Semiquincentennial (the 250th anniversary of the country) in July 2026. This means grant money is being funneled toward curricula that emphasize founding principles and, in her words, an "uplifting portrayal" of American history.
2. The School Choice Explosion
This is the big one. The administration is pushing hard to ensure that federal "Title I" money—traditionally meant for low-income public schools—follows the student. If a parent wants to move their kid to a private or charter school, they want that money to move with them. This is a massive point of contention. Rural districts, in particular, are worried because they don't have private options, so losing that federal "per-pupil" funding could be a death knell for their local public schools.
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3. Higher Ed Accountability
There’s a new framework called AHEAD (Accountability in Higher Education and Access Through Demand-driven Workforce Pell). Basically, if a college program doesn't result in students earning enough money to pay back their loans, that program loses its federal funding. It’s a "return on investment" model. It sounds great on paper, but folks in the liberal arts are sweating because "philosophy" doesn't always show immediate "high earnings" on a 2-year lookback.
The Student Loan Reversal (The "Wait, What?" Moment)
The most surprising thing happened in January 2026.
For months, the administration was threatening to get tough on student loan defaults. They were talking about garnishing wages and seizing tax refunds for the roughly 9 million people in default. Then, suddenly, McMahon announced a pause.
Why? Partly because of a massive new law called the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" (yes, that’s the real name the administration used) passed in 2025. The pause gives the department time to "rehabilitate" loans under new rules. It’s a rare moment of relief for borrowers under an administration that has generally been hostile to Biden-era loan forgiveness.
Is the Department Actually Going Away?
Trump campaigned on "abolishing" the department. Can McMahon actually do it?
Short answer: No. Not without Congress.
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The Department of Education was created by an Act of Congress in 1979. To legally "delete" it, you need a new law. While Republicans have control, actually getting the votes to fully eliminate an agency that handles billions in special education and Pell Grants is a steep hill.
Instead, McMahon is doing a "soft dissolve."
By moving the work to the Department of Labor and cutting staff, she’s making the department a ghost of its former self. If there’s no one left to answer the phones in the Office for Civil Rights, does the office even exist? That’s the strategy being played out right now.
Actionable Insights for 2026
The landscape is shifting fast. If you're a parent, educator, or student, you can't just wait for the news to hit your feed. You've got to be proactive.
For Parents:
Check your state’s "School Choice" status. The federal government is increasingly giving states the green light (and the cash) to expand voucher programs. If you’ve been wanting to move your child to a different environment, the financial barriers might be dropping. Conversely, if your child is in a public school, keep a close eye on your local school board meetings. With federal oversight receding, local boards have more power—and more responsibility—to fill the funding gaps.
For College Students and Borrowers:
Don't ignore those "default" notices. The current "pause" on wage garnishment is a temporary window. Use this time to look into the new rehabilitation programs established under the 2025 reforms. Also, if you’re choosing a major, look at the AHEAD metrics. If your chosen program is at risk of losing federal funding because of low graduate earnings, you might find your financial aid disappearing halfway through your degree.
For Educators:
The "Returning Education to the States" tour is currently visiting all 50 states. Use these town halls. Regardless of your politics, this is the time to voice how "Title I" or "IDEA" (Special Education) funding changes are impacting your specific classroom. The administration is looking for "best practices" to include in their toolkits, and frontline feedback is the only way to ensure those toolkits are actually practical.
The Department of Education under Linda McMahon is less of a "department" and more of a "transition team." It’s a wild experiment in downsizing the federal government's role in the American classroom. Whether it leads to "parental empowerment" or "educational chaos" really depends on who you ask—and, more importantly, how your local school district handles the handoff.