Linda McMahon, the secretary of education, received a frosty welcome on Wednesday from Democrats who hammered her relentlessly over President Trump’s directive to dismantle the agency.
Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, accused her of “unlawfully freezing and stealing congressionally appropriated funds” by slashing grants, programs and staff, reducing its overall footprint and authority.
“By recklessly incapacitating the department you lead, you are usurping Congress’s authority and infringing on Congress’s power of the purse,” Ms. DeLauro said. “And you will continue to lose these battles in court.”
Ms. McMahon was on Capitol Hill to defend the Trump administration’s budget proposal for next year, which she argued would cut waste, shrink bureaucracy and empower states “to manage education in this country.”
She told Representative Mark Pocan, Democrat of Wisconsin, that as much as three-fourths of the roughly 2,000 staff members who were fired at her agency had lost their jobs because of downsizing efforts overseen by Elon Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency. She said about 74 workers had since been rehired.
Pressed about a $4.5 billion cut that Mr. Trump had proposed for K-12 schools, she said that the remaining $2 billion would be compressed into a single block grant for states.
Republicans on the committee defended Ms. McMahon and framed their questions as encouragement for Ms. McMahon to pursue more school-choice options. Despite the overall cut in the administration’s proposal, it also includes an additional $60 million for charter schools.
“When parents don’t have a choice, that’s a travesty,” said Representative Julia Letlow, who was the first Republican woman to represent Louisiana in the House when she took office in 2021. “For those parents who public education was failing their students, they had the opportunity to form charter schools. And what a blessing that has been to Louisiana.”
Ms. McMahon told Ms. Letlow that Diana Diaz-Harrison, a founder of a charter school in Louisiana was serving as a deputy assistant secretary at the Education Department. Ms. McMahon promised that more school choice would result in higher test scores for students, although some research has suggested that students who receive private school vouchers may perform worse academically.
“This plus-up in the budget, which is not going to cover all the needs for sure, but will give more opportunity for charter schools and other options for choice,” Ms. McMahon said.
Democratic inquiries hinged on what Ms. McMahon had already done to fulfill Mr. Trump’s desire that she serve as the nation’s last education secretary.
In one heated exchange, Ms. DeLauro, who has represented her district since 1991, pushed Ms. McMahon on her department’s decision to discontinue $1 billion in spending that Congress had authorized in 2022 to increase mental health services in schools.
Grant recipients received a “notice of noncontinuation” last month informing them that funding was ending because “programs that reflect the prior administration’s priorities and policy preferences and conflict with those of the current administration.
Ms. DeLauro asked if the department considered the success of the programs, but Ms. McMahon disputed that any programs had been canceled.
Ms. DeLauro pressed Ms. McMahon, saying that it was her understanding that the grants were canceled. “Are you planning to break the law by impounding congressionally appropriated funds?” Ms. DeLauro asked.
“We are continuing — or not continuing — some funds as we look at them,” Ms. McMahon responded. “As we go forward in the budget, I am happy to get back to you.”
Ms. DeLauro interrupted, asking, “Yes or no — you’re going to abide by the law?”
“We’re going to abide by the law,” Ms. McMahon said.
“That means by Sept. 30 that that money will be expended for all of the programs that are listed,” Ms. DeLauro said.
“We will abide by the law,” Ms. McMahon repeated.
Michael C. Bender is a Times political correspondent covering President Trump, the Make America Great Again movement and other federal and state elections.
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