Trump Education Nominee Won't Say If Schools Will Lose Funding Over Ethnic Clubs

Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Education, refused to answer on Thursday during a Senate confirmation hearing if public schools would be in violation of an executive order and be at risk of losing their federal funding if they host groups or clubs based on a race or ethnicity.

On Trump’s first day back in office, he signed an executive order that dismantled diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government. Federal employees who worked on DEI programs were placed on administrative leave, governmental organizations like the Smithsonian Institution shut down its diversity program, and West Point Academy disbanded its ethnic groups because they believed that these programs ran afoul of Trump’s anti-DEI crusade.

He also signed orders that aimed to promote what his administration called “patriotic education” and threatened to withhold federal school funding from public schools that teach that the country is “fundamentally racist, sexist or otherwise discriminatory.”

At McMahon’s confirmation hearing, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) repeatedly asked her if local schools that had clubs, groups and classes organized around a racial or ethnic group would suffer the same fate as the federal programs that have already been axed.

“Would they risk funding if they have clubs that students can belong to based on their ethnic or racial identity?” he asked.

McMahon hedged, saying that she didn’t want to address hypothetical situations. But Murphy pressed further.

“You’re saying that it’s possible that if a school has a club for Vietnamese students or Black students where they meet after school, that they could potentially be in jeopardy of receiving federal funding?” he asked.

But McMahon again said she would need to know what exactly the clubs are doing before she could commit to an answer.

“That’s pretty chilling,” Murphy said. “I think schools all around the country are going to hear that.”

He then asked one final time about clubs or educational programming centered around ethnic or racial experiences, like an African American history class. McMahon still wouldn’t provide a clear answer.

“So, there’s a possibility that schools that run African American history classes that’ve been taught for decades could lose federal funding if they continue to teach African American history?” Murphy questioned.

“No, that’s not what I’m saying,” McMahon said. “I’m saying I need to look at these programs and fully understand the breadth of the executive order and get back to you on that.”

“I think you’re going to have a lot of educators scrambling right now,” Murphy replied.

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