McMahon Tussles With House Democrats at Latest Hearing
Sara Weissman
May 15, 2026
The secretary engaged in tense exchanges with Democratic lawmakers about ED policies. Republicans largely came to her defense but raised concerns about graduate student loan caps and threats to TRIO.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon fielded barbed questions from Democratic lawmakers at a House Committee on Education and Workforce hearing Thursday.
Democrats sparred with her over the department’s plans to dissolve itself, impending loan caps for graduate and professional degrees, and backed-up Office for Civil Rights complaints, among other policies. In contrast, many Republicans defended the department, praising its efforts to downsize, detect financial aid fraud, direct Pell dollars to short-term programs and bar trans athletes from women’s sports—though some also raised concerns about loan limits and threats to college access programs.
