WATCH: Baldwin Slams Trump Admin Plan to Dismantle the Dept. of Education, Undermine Students and Local Schools

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS), questioned Department of Education (ED) Secretary Linda McMahon on the President's budget request that makes massive cuts to elementary and secondary public education and increases costs for American families. The President's budget would cut $6 billion from K-12 education, including $105 million for Wisconsin's public schools. Baldwin also pressed Secretary McMahon on her efforts to dismantle the Department of Education, eliminate programs that address teacher shortages, and cut funding for mental health and special education staff.

Secretary McMahon testified in front of the Senate LHHS Appropriations Subcommittee today to defend President Trump's Fiscal Year 2027 budget proposal for ED, which cut billions from programs under the jurisdiction of the LHHS subcommittee. If passed into law, Wisconsin families would face increased costs, with state and local taxpayers needing to make up for the Trump administration's deep cuts. The Trump administration is taking steps to shut down the Department of Education by trying to offload its programs to other Federal agencies that do not have the capacity or expertise to administer them, adding costs to taxpayers and causing confusion for states and local school districts. Baldwin highlighted the consequences local schools, teachers, and parents faced under McMahon's leadership, including:

• The termination of $2 billion in grants in the middle of last school year, including grants to expand school-based mental health and special education staff in Wisconsin.
• Illegally withholding more than $7 billion in formula grant funds, which states were forced to sue to access.
• The abrupt end of $800 million in investments in education research and data that support the work of our states and schools.
• Eliminating funding to address teacher shortages, international education, and eliminating funding for minority-serving institutions.

Senator Baldwin also highlighted how the Department of Education has helped states and schools, including in implementing reforms to improve student outcomes, like improving reading scores. That's not through telling schools what to do or how to teach but supporting what they're doing on their own. States that have implemented approaches that have significantly improved student reading scores have credited the assistance provided through the Department of Education with supporting that work - support that would be cut off if the Department is eliminated.

Senator Baldwin has been an outspoken critic of President Trump's stated goal of dismantling the Department of Education and continued efforts to withhold funding from American students and schools, including blocking $7 billion in Congressionally approved funding ahead of the 2025-2026 school year. Last June, Senator Baldwin pressed Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon on the Trump administration's decision to cut off funding for grants for school-based mental health. Last December, Baldwin led a group of her colleagues in calling out the Trump administration's moves to illegally outsource core functions of the agency that students and their families rely on.

A full recording of Senator Baldwin's opening remarks is available here.

Full recordings of Senator Baldwin's questions are available here and here.

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