If President Trump’s new education secretary, Linda McMahon, is unsure of her future in the administration, supporters believe it’s not necessarily a bad thing. A month into his second term, the president is doubling down on his campaign promise to close the U.S. Department of Education and send the responsibility for education back to the states.

A recent New York Post article quoted the president as wanting his pick for education secretary “to put herself out of a job.” The Post said Trump “is expected to give his education chief a deadline to deliver a plan for the agency’s winddown,” while acknowledging that Congressional action is required to complete the process.

The Daily Caller reported in early February that many parents’ rights groups are urging the U.S. Senate to quickly confirm McMahon’s appointment, noting that the education-related “damages of the previous administration” must be addressed. The groups’ grievances include the Biden FBI’s investigation and labeling of outspoken parents as “domestic terrorists,” and the education department’s “war against religious institutions and trade schools” in order to “protect the higher education cartel against competition” and uphold “cultural Marxism.”

If the agency survives, McMahon will be in a position to make her influence felt, and observers are likely to witness a battle over major cutbacks. The 74 reported in late January that several members of the think tank McMahon chairs, the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), “have grabbed top posts as the senior leadership team takes shape,” which should make McMahon’s job easier.

One of those choices is Jonathan Pidluzny, who served as AFPI’s Director of Higher Education Reform. According to LinkedIn, he was responsible for developing “federal and state policy initiatives to reinvigorate market competition in the higher education sector and improve protections for free expression and promote intellectual diversity in the academy.” In the fledgling administration’s education department, he will act as deputy chief of staff for policy and programs.

Pidluzny reports to new chief of staff, Rachel Oglesby, who most recently served AFPI as chief state affairs officer, coordinating the organization’s policy priorities among its state chapters and councils. The AFPI website states that prior to joining the organization in 2023, Oglesby “worked as chief of policy and deputy chief of staff for Governor Kristi Noem in South Dakota.” Noem, of course, is now the Trump Administration’s Secretary of Homeland Security.

Another controversial figure in the new department is Candice Jackson, an AFPI alum who, according to The 74, is “an architect of the 2020 Title IX rule,” which restored due process protections to the oft-modified law. (See Education Reporter, January 2025.) Jackson served in the first Trump administration as deputy general counsel.

A fourth AFPI addition, Tom Wheeler, is a former Justice Department official, also from the Trump 45 team, “who was instrumental in reversing Obama-era guidance that said trans students should be allowed to use bathrooms that match their gender identity. He’s been named principal deputy general counsel.”

Focus on Achievement

Thus, McMahon is in good company as she takes the reins of the agency, regardless of whether it survives the next four years. Yet another plus for her is that former Tennessee education commissioner, Penny Schwinn, has been tapped to serve as deputy secretary, McMahon’s second in command. Schwinn is not affiliated with AFPI, but she is focused on academic achievement, especially in reading, which should stand her in good stead with her new boss. She too must be confirmed by the Senate.

The 74 reported that Schwinn resigned her state-level post in 2023, citing frustration over her inability to put academics over race and gender indoctrination, which was hindering her efforts “to catch students up after the pandemic.” She said: “I see it as extraneous politics, and my job is to educate kids.”

While some conservatives have spoken out against Schwinn for actions she allegedly took during Covid, and for failure to remove woke curricula from schools, author and conservative education activist, Christopher Rufo, debunked those charges on X. After a face-to-face meeting with Schwinn, Rufo urged his followers to support her confirmation, stating:

• After all of the insanity over the past few years, parents are right to be skeptical of education officials. But we have to be accurate with the facts and considered in our judgments. After spending some time with Penny, I’m confident that she will be a great Deputy Secretary of Education ... President Trump and Secretary McMahon selected Penny for a reason, and we should all work together to make sure she is successful. I’m optimistic that she will listen to parents and make progress that is desperately needed.

The 74 pointed out that when Schwinn was Tennessee education commissioner, she “used COVID relief funds to launch a statewide tutoring program and has been credited with revamping instruction to incorporate the science of reading.” Of course, the “science of reading” has been known for decades to countless advocates led by Phyllis Schlafly as phonics instruction. (See Education Reporter, December 2023 and November 2024.)

An article by the Fordham Institute lauded Schwinn’s credentials and accomplishments for her new position. Fordham noted that Schwinn believes ensuring children are able to read at grade level “must be a nonnegotiable goal we set for every single student in this country ... This requires strong and aligned training in our colleges of education, high-quality instructional materials, exceptional professional development and ongoing supports for teachers, and additional hours of targeted acceleration opportunities for students.”

Some observers point out that, as a former teacher who has held high-level education positions in Delaware and Texas in addition to Tennessee, Schwinn has the academic experience McMahon lacks, making her a valuable asset at whatever level the ed department operates going forward. Her emphasis on reading instruction has resulted in continued improvement in Tennessee students’ test scores even since her departure, despite ongoing declines in other states. (See Same Old Same Old: 2024 NAEP Scores Stagnant at Best.)

Cutting waste

Efforts by the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to eliminate wasteful spending at the federal level, as exemplified by its recent gutting of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), only serve to emphasize the education department’s uncertain future. According to U.S. News and World Report, dozens of education department DEI employees “were put on paid leave,” and others “were among those who received an offer to leave their jobs by Feb. 6 and receive a buyout worth seven months of salary.”

A Newsweek article quoted Elon Musk as saying President Trump “will succeed in shutting down the Department of Education.” The article said Musk was responding to a report that Trump “was preparing an executive order to dismantle the department.”

Regardless, Linda McMahon is expected to be well positioned to make critically needed changes to the bloated federal agency. After all, the U.S. Department of Education has throughout its lifetime failed to make a positive impact on academics, while wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on left-wing propaganda and curricula. Parents and kids are counting on her success.

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