The Senate voted to confirm Linda McMahon as secretary of education in a party-line vote on Monday evening.

McMahon was confirmed by a 51-45 vote, with none of the present Democrats crossing party lines to support the billionaire World Wrestling Entertainment co-founder’s nomination. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and Peter Welch (D-VT) were not present for the vote. McMahon was sworn in shortly after the confirmation vote and was set to begin her official duties on Tuesday morning. 

“I am deeply grateful to President Trump for his trust in me to serve in his Cabinet as Secretary of Education. I am prepared to lead the Department in this transformational time and embrace the challenge to improve the education system for the more than 100 million children and college students who deserve better,” McMahon said in a statement following her confirmation.

“Education is the issue that determines our national success and prepares American workers to win the future. Every decision made at the Department will be driven by a commitment to support meaningful learning and empower our most important stakeholders: students, families, and teachers. We will empower states and districts to have more say in what is working on the ground for students instead of bureaucratic edicts from Washington, D.C.,” she continued.

McMahon’s statement alluded to President Donald Trump’s desire to dismantle the Department of Education and move federal programs he wishes to keep running to other agencies. McMahon said in a letter to members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which oversaw her confirmation process, that she would support that effort, which prompted Democrats’ unified opposition.

“I’m very proud that every single Democrat will vote against Ms. McMahon,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said on the Senate floor ahead of the vote. “Ms. McMahon’s confirmation would be a slap in the face to students, parents, teachers who care about our public schools. Americans believe in public education. They don’t want to see these cuts. They don’t want to see the Department of Education abolished.”

“Before Republicans vote for Ms. McMahon, you should remember: slashing funds for schools, students, parents and teachers, all for the sake of billionaire tax breaks, is a very bad idea,” Schumer continued. “Senate Democrats know it’s a horrible idea. The American people know it’s a horrible idea.”

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), who had said he would consider working with McMahon on efforts to address campus antisemitism, told Jewish Insider that defunding and canceling the department was “a nonstarter.”

“They’ll discover that education is bipartisan and a core responsibility. Ask Tom Corbett how that worked out for him,” Fetterman said, pointing to the former governor of Pennsylvania. Corbett, a Republican, oversaw wide-ranging cuts to the state’s education department ahead of his 2014 bid for a second term. He went on to be handily defeated by Tom Wolf, a Democrat, by a nearly 10-point margin. 

Despite the push to abolish the department altogether, McMahon pledged during her confirmation process to use all tools at her disposal to ensure the safety of Jewish students on college campuses and address the backlog of federal civil rights complaints filed since Oct. 7, 2023. While McMahon did not offer specifics publicly, the overtures prompted several Democrats to express openness to work with her on the issue.