Feb. 20 (UPI) — A Senate committee advanced the nomination of Linda McMahon for Education secretary to the full Senate despite worries of President Donald Trump‘s comments about dismantling the Department of Education.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee approved the nomination of McMahon, Trump’s Small Business Administration head in his first term. The committee voted 12-11 along party lines.
“We need a strong leader at the department who will get our education system back on track,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said before the committee vote.
Trump has expressed his dismay over the Education Department.
McMahon is the co-founder of former CEO of professional wrestling juggernaut WWE with husband Vince McMahon.
With no public Republican opposition, McMahon stands a strong chance of being confirmed by the full Senate with the fate of the department still in doubt.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., opposed MccMahon’s nomination during Thursday’s vote.
“I like her personally. I respect the work she has done in building a large and successful business,” he said. “But I think the main point that has to be made at this particular point in history is that it really doesn’t matter who the secretary of education or the secretary of labor is because those people will not be calling the shots.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., however, said that McMahon is “the partner this committee needs.”
“We need a strong leader at the department who will get our education system back on track,” he said.
The Education Department was created in 1979 under the Jimmy Carter administration as a result of a spinoff from the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, which also resulted in the Department of Health and Human Services.