Education Secretary Linda McMahon is doing exactly what President Donald J. Trump hired her to do: Clean out a failed education bureaucracy, return power to states and parents, and put students – not Washington politics – first. That’s why Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is attacking her.
From the moment Secretary McMahon took the helm at the U.S. Department of Education, she made it clear she would not be another caretaker of a broken system. She has focused on three things Washington has avoided for decades: streamlining a bloated bureaucracy, redirecting resources from federal offices to classrooms, and restoring control of education to states and local communities. In just months, she has delivered more meaningful structural reform than most secretaries attempted in entire terms.
That is exactly what terrifies Sen. Warren. Her recent calls for McMahon to resign are not about children, equity, or “protecting public schools.” They are about one thing: defending Washington’s control at all costs. Warren would rather preserve a federal department that has presided over record spending and record-low student outcomes than allow an outsider to expose its failures.
But McMahon refuses to apologize for demanding results. And she shouldn’t.
For decades, America has spent more per student than any major developed nation, yet our children’s test scores, especially in reading and math, have continued to fall. Entire generations of students have cycled through a system in which the federal government grows larger, costs rise, and academic performance declines. If Washington’s approach worked, we would see the results by now. Instead, we see the opposite.
Secretary McMahon’s critics pretend this decline is caused by not spending enough, not regulating enough, or not centralizing enough. But Americans know better. They see the truth in their own communities: Local parents and educators are far better equipped to make decisions for students than bureaucrats who have never set foot in their districts.
That is why President Trump empowered Secretary McMahon to follow the America First principle that guides all successful reform: The people closest to the problem should be trusted with the power to solve it.
Under President Trump and Secretary McMahon’s leadership, the Department of Education is being reshaped to reflect that principle. Outdated offices are being consolidated or phased out. Redundant administrative layers, often consuming millions of dollars annually, are being eliminated. Federal functions that can be run more efficiently elsewhere are being transferred rather than expanded. And critically, every statutory requirement protecting students, such as civil rights enforcement and special education support, remains fully intact.
Warren calls this “destruction.” In reality, it is long-overdue accountability.
The senator’s rhetoric is especially ironic given that the system she defends has allowed national reading and math scores to sink to their lowest point in decades. If Warren truly cared about underserved students, she would be demanding the same reforms Secretary McMahon is implementing: More transparency, more local control, more school-choice options, and more focus on outcomes rather than bureaucracy.
Instead, she has chosen political theater over honest debate. By claiming that Secretary McMahon is “unqualified,” Warren ignores the real question: How qualified were the dozens of career officials who watched student achievement collapse while expanding their own offices year after year? How qualified is any politician who believes that the solution to every problem is more government and more money poured into the same failing model?
President Trump selected Linda McMahon precisely because she is an outsider. She brings private-sector discipline, executive leadership, and a results-driven mindset, qualities Washington desperately needs. She has no interest in protecting turf, defending agencies for the sake of tradition, or sugarcoating systemic failure. Her sole objective is to build an education system that works for American families.
That includes empowering governors to tailor education to their states’ needs, supporting innovation in school choice, partnering with community-based programs, strengthening vocational pathways, and ensuring every dollar spent actually benefits students rather than sustaining layers of federal red tape.
And perhaps most importantly, it means returning trust to parents – those who know their children best, who see the consequences of educational decline firsthand, and who have been sidelined for far too long.
Warren’s attacks prove just how necessary McMahon’s reforms truly are. When Washington politicians panic, it’s usually because someone is finally challenging the system they rely on for power.
Secretary McMahon is challenging that system. She is dismantling what doesn’t work, protecting what does, and building something better in its place. Under her leadership – and under President Trump’s renewed vision for American education – states, parents, and teachers are being restored to the center of decision-making, where they always belonged.
If we care about our children’s futures, we should defend this mission, not tear it down for political points.
