Education Secretary Linda McMahon faced pointed criticism from both sides of the aisle Tuesday as she testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee, defending a White House budget proposal that would significantly reshape — and in some cases eliminate — federal education programs serving the nation’s most vulnerable students.
The hearing, McMahon’s first Capitol Hill appearance in nearly a year, centered on the administration’s $76.5 billion fiscal year 2027 budget request, which proposes consolidating 17 programs — including rural education funding, literacy grants, and support for homeless students — into a single $2 billion block grant dubbed the “Make Education Great Again,” or MEGA, grant. McMahon argued the consolidation would give states greater flexibility and “unleash momentous opportunity for every child to realize their God-given potential.”
That vision found few fans in the hearing room. Even committee chair Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, pushed back, warning that folding rural education funding into a broader block grant would “undermine the goals of helping our K through 12 schools.” Collins, who has long championed rural school funding, was also among a bipartisan group of 12 senators who wrote to McMahon earlier this month objecting to changes made to TRIO — a cluster of federal programs that have helped low-income and first-generation students access higher education since 1965.
The fate of TRIO drew perhaps the most sustained, bipartisan criticism of the hearing. The programs, which serve more than 800,000 students annually, are slated for elimination under the proposed budget. Collins noted pointedly that three of her own staff members would not have attended college without TRIO. Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon cited data showing that Upward Bound participants are more than twice as likely to earn a bachelor’s degree by age 24 than their peers. “The stats from these programs are pretty damn impressive,” he said.
McMahon’s response — that “college is not the only solution for everyone” — suggested the administration may be open to redirecting TRIO toward workforce training rather than college readiness, a pivot several senators from both parties opposed.
The Office for Civil Rights also took center stage. The budget proposes a 35% cut to OCR, an office already reeling after the administration fired more than half its staff in early 2025 and shuttered seven of its 12 regional offices. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington pressed McMahon on how many civil rights cases were resolved in the past year. After considerable evasion, Murray supplied the answer herself: effectively zero, with 78% fewer resolutions than the prior year. “Kids are being denied equal access to education they are entitled to under law,” Murray said, “and are now also being denied the justice they deserve.”
McMahon insisted progress was coming, pointing to new hires and the return of some previously dismissed staff. But when Murphy raised the case of an autistic student whose discrimination complaint was closed when her local OCR office shut down, McMahon deflected. “That is hindsight,” she said. A separate report released Tuesday by Sen. Bernie Sanders characterized McMahon’s OCR as “the least productive in over a decade.”
On special education, McMahon confirmed that programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act could be moved to the Departments of Labor or Health and Human Services — a prospect that has alarmed disability advocates nationwide. Murray said she had received a petition from thousands of parents “who are concerned that will really undermine 50 years of progress.”
Whether any of McMahon’s reassurances will translate into legislative wins remains doubtful. Maureen Tracey-Mooney of Georgetown University’s FutureEd think tank noted that Congress has already rejected a similar block grant proposal once this year. “We are unlikely to see a rigorous engagement in Congress with these ideas through the budget process,” she said.
