Trump has repeatedly said he wants to shut down the department. While conceding that closing the agency would require congressional approval, McMahon, a former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO, made it clear during her testimony she intends to carry out the president’s vision if confirmed by the Senate.

“I would also like to thank President Trump for his confidence in me to lead a department whose mission and authority were a special purpose of his campaign. He pledged to make American education the best in the world, return education to the states where it belongs,” McMahon said. “November proved that Americans overwhelmingly support the president’s vision, and I am ready to enact it.”

McMahon, the former Small Business Administration director and a longtime Trump ally, was interrupted several times by protesters who had to be removed from the hearing room on Thursday morning.

The president is expected to sign an executive order that would take steps to eliminate the functions of the Education Department. The order would likely come in two parts: First, it would direct the secretary of education to create a plan to downsize the department through executive action, and second, Trump would push Congress to pass the legislation necessary to eliminate the department.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle repeatedly pressed McMahon to affirm that eliminating the Department of Education would require an act of Congress.

“President Trump has reportedly drafted an executive order requiring the secretary of education to develop a plan for downsizing the Department of Education and working with Congress to eliminate it entirely. Yes or no, do you agree that since the department was created by Congress, it would need an act of Congress to actually close the Department of Education,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), the chairman of the panel, asked McMahon.

McMahon told Cassidy and other lawmakers on the panel that she is aware that eliminating the Department of Education would require congressional action.

“Certainly, President Trump understands that we’ll be working with Congress. We’d like to do this right. We’d like to make sure that we are presenting a plan that I think our senators could get on board with, and our Congress to get on board with, that would have a better functioning Department of Education but certainly does require congressional action,” she said.

Cassidy also pressed McMahon on whether states and localities would still be able to count on federal funding from the Department of Education if the agency is downsized.

“It is not the president’s goal to defund the programs. It’s only to have them operate more efficiently,” McMahon responded. 

Even without an order to close the department, the Trump administration has been overhauling many aspects of its work. On Monday, the Department of Government Efficiency moved to eliminate nearly $1 billion in research contracts, which have provided data sources on American schooling. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) expressed concerns about the cuts, referencing a former teacher she spoke to who developed a high-impact tutoring model that could now be on the chopping block as it has a grant application pending.

“Shouldn’t the Department of Education continue to collect data and evaluate outcomes rather than halt these activities so you can help states know what works,” Collins asked McMahon.

“It is my goal, if I am confirmed, to get in and assess these kinds of programs because I’m not sure yet what the impact of what all of these programs are. I know that there are many worthwhile programs that we should keep, but I am not yet apprised of them,” McMahon responded. 

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) pushed McMahon to answer whether she would halt funding that has already been appropriated by Congress if asked to by Trump and DOGE.

“What would you do if the president or Elon Musk tells you not to spend money Congress has appropriated to you?” Murray asked.

“We will certainly expend those dollars that Congress has passed, but I do think it is worthwhile to take a look at the programs before money goes out the door. It’s much easier to stop money going out the door than it is to claw it back,” McMahon responded.

Murray also expressed concerns that DOGE employees at the Department of Education could abuse sensitive student data they had accessed before a court order temporarily paused their efforts. 

“There is a real potential for that kind of information to be abused or for student privacy to be in jeopardy,” Murray said. “DOGE could use that highly personal information to then target students, target their families or cut off access to Pell grants for students in college that someone perceives opposes President Trump’s policies.”

McMahon responded that DOGE employees have been onboarded as employees of the Department of Education and are operating under “restraints of utilizing access of information.”

“Again, I’m not there yet, but it is my understanding that they are onboarded full employees,” she responded.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) asked how Trump’s executive orders that ban diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the federal government could extend to public school classes and programs. 

“If a school in Connecticut celebrates Martin Luther King Day and has a series of events and programming teaching about black history, are they in violation of a policy that says schools should stop running DEI programs,” he asked. 

“Not in my view,” McMahon answered. “The celebration of Martin Luther King Day and Black History month should be celebrated throughout our schools.”

Murphy then highlighted public school clubs and celebrations that center on certain identities or cultural affiliations, asking if schools had these programs if they would risk federal funding, giving an example of a school that has a club for “Vietnamese students or black students that meet after school.”

McMahon wasn’t able to give a concrete answer, but said she didn’t want to address “hypothetical situations” and said once she is confirmed she’d like to assess the programs.

The rise of antisemitism on college campuses was repeatedly brought up throughout the hearing. The Department formally launched a probe of five institutions of higher education with reports of alleged antisemitism following the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack in Israel. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) asked McMahon if she would make sure antisemitism would stop at schools that receive federal funding. 

“Absolutely, or face defunding of their monies,” she said in response. 

Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) pressed McMahon on whether she would follow a directive from President Trump “that breaks the law.”

“The president will not ask me to do anything that is against the law,” McMahon answered. 

Hassan responded, saying, “The last month has told us that it is quite likely he may,” citing several Trump executive orders that have been halted by the courts.

Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) and McMahon had a contentious exchange during Markey’s questioning time, in which the Massachusetts Senator railed against plans to gut the agency. He pressed the nominee several times to affirm that the recent round of cuts announced by DOGE at the Education Department would not go “toward paying for tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires.”

“Well, that was a broad view of what’s going on right now. Today, we’re trying to find waste, fraud and abuse. Those groups that are in the Department of Education from my understanding have looked at competitive contracts that are bidding, let;s see where that money is going, how it’s being spent. I’m not there,” McMahon said before being cut off by Markey.

“It’s all backwards – again we know what the plot is, and ultimately the answer I’m looking for is a yes, because if even one dollar flows away from an educator or a student toward a billionaire tax break, that will be immoral in our country,” Markey responded. 

McMahon does not have an extensive education background like most of the previous secretaries. She is a longtime trustee at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut and spent a year on the Connecticut Board of Education.

The Republican Party has a 53-47 majority in the upper chamber, which means any of Trump’s Cabinet nominees can only afford to lose three Republicans’ support and still get confirmed. No Republicans have come out against her nomination.