A tense exchange unfolded on Capitol Hill Wednesday as Education Secretary Linda McMahon defended the Trump administration’s proposal to downsize the Department of Education and return control to states, sparking a sharp confrontation with Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J.
As Fox News reported, McMahon appeared before the House Appropriations Subcommittee to outline President Donald Trump’s 2026 education budget proposal, which includes a 15% cut to the department’s budget, amounting to $12 billion.
The proposal would consolidate 18 federal programs into a single $2 billion block grant to states. McMahon described the initiative as part of her department’s “final mission,” aiming to shift education oversight back to parents, local educators, and state governments.
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During questioning, Watson Coleman pressed McMahon on civil rights enforcement, asking, “Do you believe that there is illegal discrimination against people who are Black or brown, and other types of discrimination in jobs and education in this country?”
McMahon responded, “I think it still exists in some areas.”
Watson Coleman then challenged McMahon on staffing reductions: “Then can you tell me why the Office of Civil Rights and the Department of Education is being decimated?”
McMahon replied, “Well, it isn’t being decimated. We have reduced the size of it. However, we are taking on a backlog of cases that were left over from the Biden administration.”
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The exchange escalated as Watson Coleman accused the administration of racial bias. “Your rhetoric means nothing to me,” she said.
“What means something to me is the actions of this administration… you should feel shameful to be engaged with an administration that doesn’t give a damn.”
▫️Bonnie Watson Coleman United States Representative is another example of a garbage human being. She was very disrespectful to Education Secretary Linda McMahon.
▫️If she had tried to talk to me like that.
▫️I would have told her she could F OFF right on live TV. pic.twitter.com/Vq2PKhoEDX— (Jason) Stands For Truth (@TrueJMitchell) May 22, 2025
McMahon maintained her position. “What we’re seeing in those scores is a failure of our students to learn to read. We’ve lost the fundamentals.”
“I am the secretary of Education who has been approved to run this agency by Congress. And I was appointed by the president. And I serve at his pleasure under his mandate. So, therefore, the direction of his administration is what I will follow.”
Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., backed McMahon’s approach. “Despite $3 trillion in federal education spending since 1980, student achievement has not improved. The answer is not more money. It’s more accountability and local control,” he said.
McMahon also addressed student loan repayment recovery, saying, “Since we restarted collections in May, we have recovered nearly $100 million.”
She defended staffing cuts, noting, “We’re delivering on all of our statutory requirements with fewer people and lower overhead.”
The budget proposal includes a $60 million boost in charter school funding. “We’ve got about a million students on charter school waiting lists,” McMahon said. “Parents should be deciding where their children can go to school and get the best education.”
Democrats also criticized the proposal for not prioritizing early childhood education. Rep. Josh Harder, D-Calif., said, “Every Head Start program in the country has three days of funding.”
McMahon responded, “The earlier we can start education, the better, but I don’t believe the federal government is responsible for everything. That’s where states can lead.”
Outside the hearing room, Education Department spokesperson Savannah Newhouse defended the administration’s stance.
“Since [the department’s] creation by President Carter, we have spent over $3 trillion pretending the department is necessary as student learning outcomes have not improved. While the congresswoman from New Jersey basks in her five minutes of fame, the Trump administration is working to improve student outcomes and ensure American families have access to the quality education that they deserve.”
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The Public Education system exists solely to ennoble and enrich administrators, politicians, and political activists posing as educators. It does not educate anyone, it does not serve Americans. In fact, students were better educated before Jimmy Carter brought this monster to life. The DoE is a petri dish of social experimentation on children. Before it, students studied American History, now they study social studies and political activism. Before DoE, students studied biology and knew that a surgical mask can not filter virus particles and that men and women are, in fact, anatomically different and it is physically impossible for one to become the other. Public Education is a failure because of the DoE.
Wow. Read the story and watched the video, just to find out McMahon’s response isn’t even on it. It cuts off giving Coleman the last word. Are we moonlighting for the Democrat Party now or was this just a poorly-presented story… ?
the ad that came up immediately after the video of this obnoxious woman said ” Best walking shoes for elderly with poor balance. ” Sometimes the cosmos just steps in and speaks the truth.”
This congresswoman was part of an organized effort to breakout illegal aliens that are murders, rapists and child sex pedophiles held by ICE.