Linda McMahon just showed the Senate how little she knows about education.

Former professional wrestling exec and billionaire GOP donor Linda McMahon faced tough questioning—and scattered protests—on Thursday during her confirmation hearing to head an Education Department that President Donald Trump is keen on abolishing.

During two-and-a-half hours of questioning (and opining) by senators, McMahon attempted to thread the needle between Trump’s plans to gut the 45-year-old US Department of Education and federal laws and constitutional guardrails that stand in his (and Elon Musk’s) way. Even as she expressed support for key Trump policies—including private-school voucher programs and bans on trans girls and women from sports—McMahon’s scant experience in education was on display as she misstated, or failed to answer key questions about, federal education law.

McMahon, who was head of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term, is best known for her role at World Wrestling Entertainment, which she co-founded and ran with her now-estranged husband, Vince. Her experience in education is limited: She earned a teaching certificate in college and was a student teacher for a semester. She served for a year on the Connecticut Board of Education, resigning in 2010 after the Hartford Courant found that she’d claimed an education degree she never obtained. She has spent more than a decade as a trustee of a private Catholic university. She also ran unsuccessfully for the US Senate in 2010 and 2012. 

As board chair of the ultra-conservative American First Policy Institute, McMahon now oversees a think tank that supports education-related policies including universal school-choice programs, parental review of all school curriculum, and removal of so-called “gender ideology” and “political activism” from coursework. If confirmed, she says she will boost support for technical schools and vocational programs and ban the teaching of critical race theory—all while emphasizing that education policy is best left to states and local school districts.

The Department of Education, which began operating in 1980, now ranks sixth among federal agencies in total spending, accounting for 4 percent of all federal spending in fiscal year 2024. As secretary, McMahon would oversee the distribution of tens of billions of dollars every year to a vast array of federal and state programs, including funding for early childhood education, kids with disabilities, low-income schools, and federal Pell Grants for college students. She would also be tasked with enforcing anti-discrimination laws and investigating schools and universities for alleged civil rights violations, including sexual harassment and racial discrimination.

The department has been one of the early targets of the Trump administration, with the new president calling for its immediate elimination, even as he has acknowledged that only Congress can actually dismantle it. Trump’s executive order on trans-inclusive sports and bathroom policies effectively rewrites Title IX policy. Meanwhile, Musk’s DOGE team has cut nearly $900 million for education research and policy evaluation, and staff in the civil rights and financial aid divisions have been fired en masse.

Between outbursts from protesters at the Senate hearing—most of whom identified themselves as teachers—McMahon did not say whether she supports Trump’s plan to get rid of the department. She vowed that important programs protected by statute, such as the Title I program for high-poverty schools, Pell Grants, and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, would continue.

But she also expressed support for downsizing the department and suggested that other federal departments and agencies might be able to oversee key education-related programs. For example, she said the department’s Office of Civil Rights, which enforces federal anti-discrimination laws including Title VI and Title IX, might be better managed by the Department of Justice. Disabled students might have their funding and protections overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services, she suggested.

When pressed on her understanding of federal education law, McMahon came up short. Under questioning by Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), she stated that schools are obligated to investigate sexual assaults that occur off campus. In fact, under Title IX rules promulgated during Trump’s first term and still in effect, schools are prohibited from investigating off-campus assaults. (It’s worth noting that McMahon, as WWE’s former CEO, is being sued for allegedly tolerating the sexual abuse of children by an employee of their company, a charge she has denied.)

McMahon also floundered when asked about the Obama-era Every Student Succeeds Act, one of the main laws governing K-12 education in the nation’s public schools. She didn’t know the specifics of funding required by another major statute, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. She falsely stated that “private schools aren’t taking federal dollars” (in fact, while private schools don’t directly receive federal funding, most do receive funds through grants).

When asked about choosing between upholding the law—for example, administering education funds already appropriated by Congress—and carrying out Trump’s directives, McMahon said that “the president will not ask me to do anything that is against the law.” She repeatedly asserted that defunding federal educational programs is not the Trump administration’s goal—ignoring Musk’s directive to slash funding, cancel grants, and end contracts.

“I believe the American people spoke loudly in the election last November to say they do want to look at waste, fraud and abuse in our government,” McMahon told the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, suggesting Musk’s budget cuts amount to an “audit.”

The committee will vote on whether to advance McMahon’s nomination after another hearing on February 20.