Linda McMahon: Working with Trump to Expand “Choice” to Every State in the U.S. Department of Education
President-elect Donald Trump announced he will nominate Linda McMahon, a former head of the U.S. Small Business Administration during his first term and a co-chair of his transition team, to lead the U.S. Department of Education.
McMahon is the chair of the America First Policy Institute, which is staffed with former members of Trump’s first White House team.
McMahon will fight hard to expand ‘Choice’ to every State in America and empower parents to make the best education choices for their families, said Trump in a statement.
She spoke about working with Trump for the first time at the Republican Convention, and she said that he is more than a fighter. He is a good man. He is the heart of a lion and the soul of a warrior. And I believe that, if necessary, he would stand at the gates of hell to defend our country.”
At the same time, McMahon did not shy away from criticizing Trump’s comments about women during his 2016 presidential run. In an interview with Yahoo News, McMahon said that the comments were “just over the top.” She said that he wasn’t helping to put women in the best light. Maybe he regrets them, maybe he doesn’t. I realize he punches hard when he punches back, but that’s just over the top. No candidate would make those comments.
Open Secrets reported that she donated more than $7 million to two committees that supported Trump’s first campaign for president.
The U.S. Department of Education: It’s not on the side of the senate, but on behalf of the Secretary of Education
Not on her own. MaxEDEN, a senior fellow at theamerican enterprise institute, said there was no way the senate would vote to abolish the U.S. Department of education.
It’s simple to find 60 senators that want to abolish the department. “It’s next to impossible to see how you get 60 votes on that anytime soon,” Eden says.
It is worth noting that even if the department were to be shut down, the many things the department does wouldn’t go with it. The major K-12 funding streams that the department administers, including billions of Title I dollars, were created by Congress before the department existed.
Some of the schools who rely the most on Title I are in poor, rural, white areas. Congressional Republicans have shown time and time again that they’re not interested in hurting their own people.
The next secretary of education will still be given plenty of opportunities to influence policies that would have a direct impact on millions of Americans.
The Biden-Harris administration expanded protection against sex discrimination in schools for sexual orientation and gender identity, in a move applauded by supporters of gay and tranny students.
Donald Trump has railed against these protections, though, and vowed to unwind them – something that’s well within his education secretary’s power. That’s because Biden’s protections were not a change in the federal law known as Title IX, but a change in the government’s interpretation of the law, through the Education Department.
Biden’s efforts to broadly cancel student debt without Congressional approval have been questioned by the courts. Plan B’s fate could be decided by the next secretary, who could simply stop defending it.
The rule was stopped before it could even be put in place due to a challenge by the Republican state attorneys general. Estimated to cost roughly $150 billion, it would, among other things, cancel the debts of borrowers with older loans and erase accrued interest for the millions of people who owe more than they borrowed.
Also in limbo is Biden’s signature loan repayment plan, the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan, which slashes borrowers’ payments (to as little as $0) while also preventing interest from growing. It offers a fast-track to forgiveness for borrowers with lower balances.
But SAVE’s considerable price tag (roughly $455 billion over 10 years, by one estimate) – and the fact that Biden used the rulemaking process to essentially circumvent Congress – likewise opened SAVE to the same legal fight that upended Biden’s first big forgiveness pitch.
For months now, 8 million borrowers enrolled in SAVE have been on pause, not being asked to make payments while the courts slowly decide whether the repayment plan is legal.
If SAVE is eventually deemed legal, the new education secretary could still simply phase it out. Only a sympathetic secretary would appeal if the plan is struck down for a second time.
The Up First newsletter: Breaking the X-odus by talking about how the Musk and Trump companies have affected the FEMA and the Obama administration
Good morning. You’re reading the Up First newsletter. If you want to listen to the Up First show, subscribe here and get it in your inbox.
FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell was grilled by Congress yesterday about accusations that the agency responded slowly to disasters and discriminated against some hurricane victims for political reasons. Meanwhile, the Biden administration wants more money for disaster recovery after this year’s blitz of hurricanes, flash floods and wildfires.
At least 100,000 people have left the social media platform X since Trump won the presidential election in what has become known as the X-odus. One of the advisers for Trump is X, a company owned by Musk, who supports the president. The platform has become overrun with posts about Musk and Trump. Bluesky has been used by many looking for an alternative.
The way people talk to each other has grown coarse over the last few years. Reporters across the NPR Network are looking for examples of people working through their differences. These stories explore how some people are trying to bridge divides.
As the holidays approach, many people are preparing to engage in conversations with loved ones who may hold differing views. Research in neuroscience and psychology indicates that, despite our disagreements, there are effective ways to bridge divides. If you find yourself in a disagreement where mutual respect is present and you’re interested in constructive dialogue, science offers several tools to help make the conversation more productive.
Source: Trump picks lead for Education Department. And, tips to bridge political divides
The Bene Gesserit in the Dune: Prophecy Series: From 10,000 Years B.C. to the Morning with Michel Martin
In the new HBO series Dune: Prophecy, Emily Watson and Olivia Williams play two sisters who form a powerful sisterhood later known as the Bene Gesserit. 10,000 years before the novel’s messianic figure, Paul Atreides, the show takes place. Watson and Williams jokingly refer to the period as 10,000 years B.C. — before Timothée Chalamet, who plays Atreides in the Dune films. The sisterhood is working to direct humanity on the right path after a massive war where humans beat machines. The six-episode season premiered Sunday. Morning Edition hostMichel Martin spoke with the stars of the show about how women view and wield power.
