United States President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Linda McMahon, the co-chair of his transition committee, to be the next secretary of the Department of Education.
McMahon previously served as manager of the Small Business Administration during the first . She was appointed in 2017 and resigned in 2019 to become president of Action America First, a pro-Trump super PAC, a political action committee.
A CNN reported earlier today that McMahon was
“Linda will use her decades of leadership experience and deep knowledge of education and business to empower the next generation of American students and workers and make America number one in education in the world. We will send education BACK TO THE UNITED STATES, and Linda will lead that effort,” Trump said in a statement.
She is board chair of the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), a pro-Trump think tank formed in 2021 by McMahon, Larry Kudlow and other advisers from the first Trump administration.
AFPI has raised millions of dollars since it was founded and has been described as a “White House in waiting” planning potential policy proposals for Trump’s second term.
McMahon is also the former CEO of WWE, an American professional wrestling promotion, which she co-founded with her husband, Vince McMahon. As head of WWE, Linda McMahon oversaw its transformation from a small wrestling entertainment company into a publicly traded media empire. She stepped down as CEO in 2009.
Linda ran twice unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut, losing in 2010 and 2012. She self-funded these campaigns, spending $50.1 million in 2010 and $48.7 million in 2012, according to Open Secrets , a nonprofit that tracks campaign finance.
Trump donated $5,000 to his campaign in 2012.
McMahon is a major Republican donor. During Trump’s first campaign for president, McMahon donated more than $7 million to two, according to Open Secrets.
