Nomination of Linda McMahon
Floor Speech
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Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I rise today deeply concerned about the state of public education in our country.
Public education is foundational. It allows people to get ahead. As simple as that, it is foundational.
I have spoken before on the floor about the power of public education in my own life. As an immigrant from Japan, I arrived in this country speaking no English.
I started off by trying to learn how to count from 1 to 10--very humble beginnings. But it was the public education I received at schools like Koko Head Elementary and Kaimuki High School that enabled me, an immigrant from very humble beginnings, to learn English and to go on to college, law school, and, ultimately, the U.S. Senate.
We should all agree on the importance of a strong public education system for every student in our country. An educated citizenry helps grow the middle class and drive economic success in red and blue States alike.
Support for public schools should not be a partisan issue. There are millions of kids who are attending public schools in every single State in our country, so it shouldn't be a partisan issue. But just weeks into the Trump administration, public education is under attack. Already, chain saw-wielding Elon Musk--it is really hard to get rid of that image because he takes such delight in wielding that chain saw and willy-nilly cutting all kinds of government programs that we rely on. But Elon Musk and his minions have started unilaterally canceling contracts at the Department of Education without any transparency or accountability whatsoever, and Donald Trump has made no secret of his desire to eliminate the Department of Education entirely, as part of his quest to cut government services we rely on to give trillions in handouts to his billionaire buddies.
While only Congress has the power to eliminate the Department of Education in its entirety, that is not stopping Trump from using every means available to weaken Federal support for education. And as you heard from my colleague just previously, there is a lot of support for public education in our country. Why? Because most of the people in our country have to go to public schools.
The person who will help him do this, meaning totally weaken our public school system and eliminate the Department of Education, is billionaire Linda McMahon. As Trump's Secretary of Education, she will dismantle the Department of Education from the inside out.
President Trump told her that he wants her to ``put herself out of a job'' by eliminating this Department. Since President Trump only nominates people who are 100 percent loyal to him, we can expect Linda McMahon will comply with putting herself out of a job, which leads us to wonder why we are even giving her this job in the first place.
A nominee tasked to end the very Department that she is supposed to be leading does not need to have much by way of experience in leading or running such a Department, which is the case with Linda McMahon. In her confirmation hearing, Mrs. McMahon could not name a single requirement of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the main Federal law that supports K through 12 education.
She couldn't say whether teaching African-American history courses violated Trump's Executive order on radical indoctrination. Teaching the history of our country is considered radical indoctrination by this President. Think about that for a minute.
She couldn't even answer a simple yes-or-no question about whether schools receiving taxpayer dollars should be allowed to discriminate against children with disabilities.
Mrs. McMahon is totally unqualified to oversee the education of our Nation's children, but Donald Trump doesn't care about that. Linda McMahon will carry out President Trump's dangerous agenda to dismantle the Department of Education, privatize the Nation's public schools, and strip educational opportunities from millions of students across the country.
In doing so, she will be 100-percent loyal to Donald Trump above all else. She will execute the plans laid out in Project 2025 to eliminate funding for title I schools, which support low-income students. We are talking about funding for 49,000 title I schools throughout the country, including 170 schools in my State of Hawaii, 2,091 title I schools in Florida, 7,500 title I schools in Texas, and so many more. Every single State has title I schools. There are 49,000 title I schools throughout our country.
Project 2025, Trump's blueprint, will have the Secretary of Education dismantle civil rights protections for students and weaponize the Office of Civil Rights to advance Trump's hateful, far-right political agenda. Then the Secretary will come after funding for programs that help provide childcare, afterschool care, school meals, and more. Think about it: school meals. For many children, that would mean taking away access to the only meal a day they can count on.
Why? Not because she thinks these decisions will improve outcomes or benefit students. No. These attacks on the Department of Education are about one thing and one thing only: finding money to pay for massive giveaways to billionaires like McMahon, Elon Musk, obviously the President, and their ilk.
Republicans are robbing our children's futures to line the pockets of their billionaire buddies, and they are robbing our country of future doctors, innovators, leaders, and more.
A strong public education system is the foundation of a strong democracy, a strong economy, and a strong middle class. That is why Democrats are committed to strengthening our schools and ensuring every child has the opportunity to get ahead, regardless of disability, income, or background. That starts with our rejecting Linda McMahon's troubling nomination to lead the Department of Education, a Department that she is going to start dismantling and, indeed, working herself out of a job.
On behalf of students, teachers, and families in Hawaii and all across our country, I urge my colleagues to think about it and to oppose this nomination.
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