June 10, 2025

McMahon Admits to Warren That Education Secretary Lacks Legal Authority to Dismantle the Education Department

 Warren gains key concessions from Secretary McMahon in a private meeting.

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) met with Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. Senator Warren also delivered over 1,000 letters to McMahon that the senator had received from people in all 50 states who are worried about the Secretary’s efforts to dismantle the Department of Education (ED).

“My job as a U.S. Senator is to conduct oversight and hold officials' feet to the fire when they are actively harming the American people. I was able to secure important commitments from Education Secretary McMahon, which will make a real difference for people with student loans,” said Senator Warren. “But at a time when President Trump and Republicans in Congress are trying to make it more expensive for students from working-class families to get ahead, I will not stop fighting to ensure that every student has access to affordable, quality education in America.”

During the meeting, Secretary McMahon revealed four key pieces of information to Senator Warren:

  • Secretary McMahon conceded that she has no statutory authority to move the responsibilities of the Department of Education to other agencies without Congress passing legislation first. This comes as the Trump administration tries to abolish the Department by shifting its responsibilities to the Small Business Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services, among other agencies that are ill-equipped to take on the Department of Education’s responsibilities. 

    “McMahon didn’t just say she didn’t have the intention to do it—she said that she is legally barred from doing it,” said Senator Warren. “I asked her about the legal authority she would have to transfer any part of the functions of the Department of Education somewhere else, for example, to the SBA, and she said, ‘I can’t do that. That is the job of Congress.’ There was no ambiguity in her answer.” 
  • Secretary McMahon confirmed that she does not intend to restart Social Security offsets for people with defaulted student loans. McMahon told Senator Warren that she personally decided to pause the seizure of Social Security benefits after the Trump administration had announced that it would start forced Social Security collections.

    “The Education Secretary has assured me that the pause that is currently in place will stay in place and if there is to be any change in that, she would get in touch with me directly before we go there,” said Senator Warren.
  • Secretary McMahon stated that she intends to soon restore the income-driven repayment (IDR) payment count tracker to studentaid.gov, allowing borrowers to track their progress towards receiving debt relief, after taking down the tracker earlier in the Trump administration.

  • Secretary McMahon admitted that she recommended cuts to the Pell Grant program because of the program’s budgetary shortfall, but that it was ultimately up to Congress to fund the Pell program. 

    “McMahon purported to be a supporter of Pell and said that she thought these changes were necessary for fiscal responsibility,” said Senator Warren. “The idea that the Republicans want to cut Pell further, I can already say categorically, is a really bad idea and it’s going to mean that we’re going to lose some number of young people who want to get an education and who ultimately benefit this country when they get an education.”

Secretary McMahon also committed to responding in writing to Senator Warren’s June 4, 2025 letter containing 66 questions regarding her policies as Education Secretary. Last month, Senator Warren invited Secretary McMahon to a public forum Warren held on May 14, 2025 on higher education affordability. Secretary McMahon refused the invitation in a May 12 letter and instead agreed to a meeting with Senator Warren. 

Senator Warren launched the Save Our Schools campaign in a coordinated effort to fight back against President Trump’s attempts to abolish the Department of Education:

  • On June 9, 2025, Senator Warren led her colleagues in pushing the Acting Inspector General of ED to open an investigation into new information obtained by her office revealing that DOGE may have gained access to two FSA internal systems, in addition to sensitive borrower data.
  • On May 20, 2025, Senator Warren and 27 other senators pushed for full funding for the Office of Federal Student Aid.
  • On May 20, 2025, Senator Warren and 27 other senators pushed for full funding to the Office of Federal Student Aid.
  • On May 14, 2025, Senator Warren led a Senate forum entitled “Stealing the American Dream: How Trump and Republicans Are Raising Education Costs for Families,” highlighting the consequences of Secretary Linda McMahon’s reckless dismantling of the Department of Education (ED) and President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” for working- and middle-class students and borrowers.
  • On May 13, 2025, Senator Warren agreed to meet with Education Secretary Linda McMahon and promised to bring questions and stories from Americans across the country to highlight how the Trump administration’s attacks on education are hurting American families.
  • On May 6, 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren highlighted the consequences of President Trump and Secretary Linda McMahon’s reckless dismantling of the Department of Education for American families in a Senate forum.
  • On April 24, 2025, Senator Warren launched a new investigation into the harms of President Trump’s attacks on the Department of Education, seeking information on the impact of the Trump administration’s actions from the members of twelve leading organizations representing schools, parents, teachers, students, borrowers, and researchers.
  • On April 10, 2025, following a request led by Senator Warren, the Department of Education’s Acting Inspector General agreed to open an investigation into the Trump administration’s attempts to dismantle the Department of Education.
  • On April 2, 2025, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Mazie Hirono, along with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, sent a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon regarding the Department of Government Efficiency’s proposed plan to replace the Department of Education’s federal student aid call centers with generative artificial intelligence chatbots.
  • On April 2, 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren launched the Save Our Schools campaign to fight back against the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the Department of Education (ED) and highlight the consequences for every student and public school in America.
  • On March 27, 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) led a letter to Acting Department of Education Inspector General (IG) René Rocque requesting that the IG conduct an investigation of the Trump Administration’s attempts to dismantle the Department of Education.
  • On March 20, 2025, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders led a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon regarding the Trump Administration’s decision to slash the capacity of Federal Student Aid to handle student aid complaints.
  • On February 24, 2025, in a response to Senator Warren, Secretary McMahon gave her first public admission that she “wholeheartedly” agreed with Trump’s plans to abolish the Department of Education.
  • On February 11, 2025, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Andy Kim sent Linda McMahon, Secretary-Designate for the U.S. Department of Education, a 12-page letter with 65 questions on McMahon's policy views in advance of her nomination hearing.

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