Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
Murray: “You didn’t do an actual analysis to determine what the effects of this would be?”
McMahon: “No.”
***WATCH: Senator Murray’s Q&A with Sec. McMahon***
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, questioned Department of Education (ED) Secretary Linda McMahon at a Senate Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on the president’s fiscal year 2026 budget request for the Department. Senator Murray pressed Secretary McMahon on the indiscriminate mass firings of employees across the Department, the lack of transparency from the Department as it illegally withholds funds that were already appropriated by Congress, and how the Trump administration talks a big game about tackling antisemitism in schools but is actually dismantling the very office charged with investigating it and enforcing federal civil rights laws for students.
In opening comments, Vice Chair Murray said:
“Good morning, Secretary McMahon. You know, President Trump has made clear that he wants to abolish the very department that you lead. And we know here that you cannot eliminate the Department of Education without an act of Congress—but I’m afraid that has not stopped you from preventing the Department from actually doing its job.
“You have indiscriminately shuttered offices and pushed out half of the Department’s staff. And under your leadership, we have seen critical research to improve student outcomes axed overnight—and funding for mental health services and teacher training, among a whole lot, abruptly cut off and discontinued.
“Now, today you come before this Committee to request massive funding cuts that do, in my opinion, nothing to help improve opportunities for students in our public schools throughout the country. You are proposing to slash Pell grants and much more.
“Now, you and the president say this isn’t about cutting education funding but all about ‘returning education to the states.’ But actually, that couldn’t be farther from the truth—because the reality is this administration is actually taking unprecedented steps to extort schools and universities, and hold federal funding hostage if they don’t conform with your agenda.
“So, it’s pretty clear that ‘returning education to the states’ actually means letting states, colleges, and local communities pick up the tab. And I just don’t believe that’s how things should work in America—I don’t believe that’s good for our students and I don’t believe it is good for our families.”
[MASS FIRINGS AT ED]
Senator Murray began by pressing Secretary McMahon on the indiscriminate mass firings across the Department: “Secretary McMahon, as I mentioned, you have set out to eliminate nearly half of your Department’s workforce. And that includes pushing out the door more than half of the staff at the Office for Civil Rights, the entire staff responsible for managing grant operations and contract procurement, and employees who actually prevent students from getting ripped off by predatory colleges. The Department cannot do its basic job to execute the law given how many staff have been pushed out. And it is our students and our teachers who will suffer the consequences. So, I want to know from you: before you cut that much staff, did you conduct any analysis to assess whether or not it would degrade support and services for students and our schools? Or how the Department would still be able to execute the law after losing so many employees?”
Secretary McMahon responded, “Yes, we did talk to the Department itself, OCR.”
“But did you do an actual analysis?” Senator Murray pressed.
“What we looked at across was, how can we restructure the Department so that we can maximize the use of the people who are there? So, what we did was in, like, training manuals and things of that nature, to look at it and say, okay, we can better operate if we focus on—” SecretaryMcMahon replied.
“So, this was a conversation. You didn’t do an actual analysis to determine what the effects of this would be?” Senator Murray clarified.
“No,” replied Secretary McMahon.
“So, no study was done. They were just fired, and you assumed that it would work?” Senator Murray asked.
Secretary McMahonreplied, “No, obviously not. I have been in the private sector and done restructuring before in companies, and it’s painful to do.”
“It is painful, but normally companies look ahead and say: what are our goals and what will be the impact if these employees are gone from this Department? That’s why I asked. But you’ve not done an analysis, and my time is short, so let me continue,” said Senator Murray.
[REFUSAL TO DETAIL HOW ED IS SPENDING FUNDING]
Senator Murray turned to the lack of transparency from the Department about how it is spending funding that has already been provided: “You were required—by law—to submit an operating plan 45 days after enactment of the full-year CR detailing exactly how you are spending funding Congress provided this year. You didn’t do that. The purported ‘operating plan’ that you did submit told us virtually nothing about how you are spending taxpayer dollars right now, at this very moment. And that really raises concerns about when—and actually if—you are going get funding that Congress did provide for FY25 out the door. For example: your FY26 budget request zeroes out dedicated funding for literacy education programs, and your operating plan for this year describes this funding as ‘unallocated.’ So, will you allocate the $220 million for literacy programs that Congress appropriated for FY25?”
Secretary McMahon refused to commit to spending the funding Congress provided for literacy programs, stating: “Well, Senator, as I mentioned earlier, we are looking at the unallocated dollars now to determine which of those programs we can best spend those dollars on. And I would be happy to get back to you. And we want to work with Congress on those unallocated dollars to see where they could be spent the best.”
Senator Murray pressed on whether ED will release the funds: “Well, what is your plan to make sure that, that funding actually gets to the schools and students is intended to support? We’re running out of time here.”
“Well, to look at those programs and then to allocate them to the states. If those programs, we believe is the best interests…” said Secretary McMahon.
“Those funds were appropriated by Congress. Your department was to allocate them, and it really looks to me like the Department is illegally impounding funding that would help our students succeed with plans that don’t exist—and just day after day going by here. And that’s our concern,” saidSenator Murray.
Secretary McMahon replied, “Well, let us work more with you as we update those allocations, as we did before.”
“When do you plan to have those funds out by?” pushed Senator Murray.
“Well, the funds that we are approving will go out in this year,” Secretary McMahon responded.
Senator Murray replied, “Like in this next month, or..?”
“In the fiscal year,” saidSecretary McMahon.
“You’re running out of time. So, we need to see what the plan is if you can provide it,” said Senator Murray.
Senator Murray and House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro sent a letter to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought last week calling out the Trump administration’s lack of transparency about how it is spending funds provided by Congress for this year—noting the complete inadequacy of the spend plan, required by law, that the Department of Education submitted.
[DISMANTLING THE OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS]
Senator Murray then addressed how the Trump administration has been dismantling the Office for Civil Rights, which is the office charged with enforcing federal civil rights laws in schools and investigating discrimination, noncompliance with federal law and more. Under Secretary McMahon’s leadership, half of OCR’s staff have been eliminated and investigations have been hamstrung, and President Trump has requested a nearly 36% cut to OCR’s budget. She began: “Secretary McMahon, the Administration says that one of its priorities is tackling antisemitism in our schools—that’s correct, right?”
“Correct,” replied Secretary McMahon.
“Well, the Office for Civil Rights at your Department takes the leading role in preventing antisemitism and enforcing our nation’s civil rights law. It is really an important mission. But as you hopefully know, that office is under water. What is the current backlog at OCR, can you tell us that?” inquired Senator Murray.
Secretary McMahon said, “We inherited about a 20,000 backlog from the Biden administration. One of the things that we found is some of those cases were like one-page complaints, and we’ve really been able to get rid of many of them and we are fulfilling…we absolutely are fulfilling all of our statutory requirements—have not failed to do any of those. And not only are we reducing the backlog, but we are keeping up with the current amount with a reduced staff because we are doing it efficiently.”
“If you don’t have the staff, you can’t do them,” Senator Murray pressed.
“If you have an efficient staff that has changed programs and you are addressing all of the issues, then you are being successful. So, I am answering your question by completely answering it,” replied Secretary McMahon.
“Actually, Madam Secretary, my question is what is the current backlog?” asked Senator Murray.
Secretary McMahon replied, “The current backlog is probably about—let’s see I’m looking at my numbers now—about 2,500 cases.”
“2,500, and how many are you processing per month? Do you have any sense?” Senator Murray asked.
“Well, we’re catching up with the backlog. And keeping current on the ones that are coming in,” dodged Secretary McMahon.
Senator Murray pressed, “But you don’t know how many you are processing every month? You can’t tell us so we can get an idea?”
“I can get back to you with that,” said Secretary McMahon.
“Would you? If you could commit to giving us quarterly reports so we can know whether OCR is simply dismissing these cases or doing its job,” replied Senator Murray.
Secretary McMahon responded in part, “I would be happy to do that.”