Donald Trump told reporters that in order to be successful as secretary of education, nominee Linda McMahon will have to destroy the very department she has been named to lead.
After news broke on Monday that Trump was preparing to sign an executive order that would try to dismantle the Department of Education, the president was asked at a Tuesday press conference about what the plan means for McMahon, whose confirmation process has stalled.
“Why nominate Linda McMahon to be the education department secretary if you’re going to get rid of the education department,” asked Fox News reporter Peter Doocy.
Trump’s response was bizarre—but unequivocal.
“I told Linda, ‘I hope you do a great job and put yourself out of a job,’” he said. “I want her to put herself out of a job.”
Trump’s move to dismantle the department would come in two parts, sources familiar the plan told CNN.
First, the executive order would direct the secretary of education to wind down the department’s work. Then, Trump would push Congress to pass legislation that would officially shutter the department—a necessary step to end a federal agency.
Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he believes that the federal government shouldn’t play a role in education.
“We spend more per pupil than any other country in the world, and we’re ranked at the bottom of the list, we’re ranked very badly,” he added.
While campaigning, Trump often criticized the federal government’s role in education.
“We will drain the government education swamp and stop the abuse of your taxpayer dollars to indoctrinate America’s youth with all sorts of things that you don’t want to have our youth hearing,” Trump said in September, according to CNN.
McMahon, who led Trump’s Small Business Administration during his first term, has yet to face a Senate hearing.
McMahon is a co-founder of the WWW along with her husband Vince McMahon. She has little experience in education outside of a stint on the Connecticut Board of Education. She spent around $50 million running for Senate in the state in 2010, but ended up losing to Richard Blumenthal.
