Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon defended her decision to cut 1,300 positions from her department, as part of President Donald Trump’s overall goal to shut down the federal agency.
She described the cuts as the ‘first step of eliminating of what I think is bureaucratic bloat’ in an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Tuesday night.
‘When I got there, I said, “Okay we have to identify where the bloat is where the bureaucracy is and start there,”‘ she said, explaining her decision to close the federal education buildings on Wednesday.
McMahon announced Tuesday evening that that all offices would be closed Wednesday for security reasons and told workers to bring home their laptops to work from home.
‘I appreciate the work of the dedicated public servants and their contributions to the Department,’ she said in a statement. ‘This is a significant step toward restoring the greatness of the United States education system.’
She defended the announcement as ‘standard corporate practice’ and said that laid off workers would be allowed to return and gather their personal effects and say goodbye at a later day.
McMahon conceded that it was dramatic move on her fifth day on the job, but she said it was part of President’s Trump’s promise to the American people.
‘That was the president’s mandate and directive to me,’ she said.
President Donald Trump and Linda McMahon
The US Department of Education closed its doors Wednesday for security reasons
McHahon said the ‘outward facing’ parts of the departments such as funding for grants, appropriations, disabled students, would continue despite the drastic cuts.
‘None of that is going to fall through the cracks,’ she promised.
McMahon cited the abysmal math and reading scores among American students as evidence the department was failing to do its job.
‘Clearly we’re not taking away education the president never said that, we’re taking the bureaucracy out of education so that more money goes to the states,’ she said.
Trump appointed former CEO of the WWE Linda McMahon as the department secretary, telling her he wanted a tough business person who could cut and reform the agency.
President Donald Trump’s education secretary Linda McMahon
US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon listens as US President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting
‘Linda, I hope you do a great job and put yourself out of a job,’ Trump recalled telling her, when he selected her for the position.
The Department of Education currently employs over 4,000 employees and has a budget of $80 billion.
McMahon said she had an ‘excellent’ relationship with Musk’s DOGE agency and had three DOGE employees working in her department to identify waste.
I think of this as a win,’ she said.