President-elect Trump plans to nominate Linda McMahon, who served as head of the Small Business Administration (SBA) during her first term, to lead the Department of Education, which he has long threatened to dismantle.
Mr. McMahon could be tasked with abolishing the department and would be responsible for leading Title IX changes and determining how student loans are treated.
Here's what you need to know about the next candidate for education secretary.
First reenactment from the previous Trump administration
McMahon is the first person President Trump has nominated for a cabinet position, and he also served in the previous administration. She previously served as director of the SBA from 2017 to 2019.
She left that position in 2019 to take a position on then-President Trump's re-election campaign.
Immediately after his resignation, Mr. McMahon was named chairman of a super PAC called America First Action.
Mr. McMahon has continued to be favored during President Trump's term, serving as co-leader of the president-elect's transition team.
McMahon has been a part of the wrestling world for a long time.
McMahon has a unique background as the CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and co-founding WWE with her husband Vince McMahon.
The initiative began in 1980 with a small company called Titan Sports, which has since transformed into a huge, publicly traded company.
She stepped down as CEO in 2009, but donated millions of dollars to the Donald J. Trump Foundation during her time with WWE.
Trump himself has maintained ties to the professional wrestling world over the years.
WWE also got involved in the education sector, supporting arts education and running a campaign using bookmarks and posters to encourage young people to read.
little direct experience in education;
Although McMahon has juggled many hats during his career, he has spent little time in the field of education.
Her most direct experience is in Connecticut, where she served on the State Board of Education for one year in 2009 before resigning to run for Senate.
When McMahon joined the board, she was criticized for lacking experience in the field.
She also served on the University of the Sacred Heart Board of Trustees in 2004, and the school's building was named after her in 2012.
She most recently served as president of the America First Policy Institute, which touts policies such as eliminating the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
named in sexual abuse lawsuit
In October, McMahon was named as a defendant in a lawsuit alleging sexual abuse of a boy by a WWE ringside announcer.
The company allowed announcer Melvin Phillips Jr. to engage in “open and rampant abuse” of boys in the 1980s and 1990s, according to the complaint. According to NBC News, Phillips allegedly lured the boys to venues and hotel rooms, telling them they could meet the wrestling star. reported.
The suit says McMahon and her husband had long known about the announcer's “unusual and unnatural interest” in boys.
According to NBC, McMahon fired Phillips for several weeks and then allowed her to return on the condition that she stay away from boys, but the lawsuit alleges that McMahon knew Phillips did not do so. It is said that they are doing so.
Vince McMahon also faces allegations of sexual abuse and harassment of his own.
Has been floated as a candidate for Secretary of Commerce
McMahon wasn't one of the people typically floated as a candidate to lead education under the Trump administration.
Rumors swirled that she would be nominated for Commerce Secretary before President Trump handed the position to Howard Lutnick. Mr. Lutnick is a co-chair of the Trump transition team with Mr. McMahon and is a billionaire investor with a long history on Wall Street.
