Linda McMahon nominated for Education Secretary

President-elect Donald Trump has selected billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be secretary of the Education Department, tasked with overseeing an agency that Trump wants to dismantle. 

The Associated Press reports that McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s initial term from 2017 to 2019 and twice ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut.

McMahon served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. She’s seen as a relative unknown in education circles. She has expressed support for charter schools and school choice.

After her time in the Trump administration, McMahon became the chair of the board of the America First Policy Institute, a think tank created by Trump supporters and former officials who have been preparing for his return to government. McMahon has also been chair of the pro-Trump America First Action SuperPAC.

She is married to Vince McMahon, who stepped down as World Wrestling Entertainment’s CEO in 2022 amid a company investigation into allegations that he engaged in sexual battery and trafficking. He has denied the allegations.