Senator Murray Grills McMahon on Dismantling the Department of Education, Proposing More Cuts to Investments in Students

04.28.26

ICYMI : Senator Murray on President Trump's FY27 Budget Request

***WATCH: Senator Murray's full questioning***

Washington, D.C. - Today,-at a Senate Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on the FY27 budget request for the Department of Education (ED)-U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, questioned Secretary Linda McMahon on how her efforts to dismantle the Department of Education are hurting students.

In opening comments, Senator Murray said:

"You know, I don't think the solution to helping kids who are falling behind is to destroy the Department of Education. But I know you and the president seem to think that is the solution.

"I think that's kind of stunning-because I [never] hear from teachers and parents in my state: 'Hey, you know what I really need? Less funding,' I just don't hear people saying that. I don't hear people saying, 'I really wish the federal government would do less to help student borrowers.'

"But that is what you are proposing in this budget: tearing down the Department of Education even more. Why? So, we have more money to throw at the Pentagon? Trillions of dollars-half a trillion dollars [more].

"I just have to say, as a former preschool teacher, maybe I'm biased, but I think that giving all kids, every one of them, a brighter future is really more important than shoveling money at defense contractors. But that is what's being proposed."

[Jeopardizing Programs for Students with Disabilities]

Senator Murray began by noting grave concern that ED is ignoring parents who don't want management of programs to protect the rights of students with disabilities to be transferred from ED to other agencies with little to no relevant expertise or experience.

MURRAY: Let me just start with this: look I am really concerned you're not listening to parents of children with disabilities and their profound objections to moving IDEA and Rehabilitation Act programs out of the Department of Education.

I've gotten a petition from thousands of parents, educators, advocates who are concerned that will really undermine 50 years of progress in making sure the rights of children and students with disabilities are met.

So, I wanted to ask you today, what is the status of moving programs for children and students with disabilities out of the Department of Education?

MCMAHON: Well, currently, we are still evaluating of where those programs would best be located. We have not made that determination yet. We are looking at the Department of Labor for some of its programs and we are also looking at HHS for a potential home for some of those programs. I can assure you that the intent of this administration is not to put these students at risk in any way whatsoever. I have met-I have not received thousands of applications as you have but I have met with parent groups all over the country who have children with disabilities. We have talked about what they need. And, I have said to each of them, who is better positioned to know what your children need then you working with them and then working with your local school board-

MURRAY: That is exactly why these parents and advocates are spitting mad because what they want to make sure is that their child with a disability has an education. And moving it out of the Department of Education is not only undermining that … But [parents] want their kids to get a good education and that is why I am hearing from so many parents. So, I am deeply concerned that your answer sounds like you're still moving ahead. Just-let's make it clear: that will break the law, and it will make it a lot harder for these students with disabilities to get the education and the understanding that their country will stand behind them with that.

MCMAHON: Well, I just have to object to your framing of this. First of all, it is not against the law. And, secondly, these parents need to understand that regardless of which department these programs are located, they will still get the same treatment, the same funding.

MURRAY: Well, are you under the Department of Education which says that your education is the priority-that's their concern. But let me move on. Because I have several other questions and my time is limited.

[Dismantling ED Decimates Protection of Students Civil Rights]

Senator Murray continued by pressing Secretary McMahon about how her efforts to dismantle the Department of Education have led to a precipitous drop off in resolution of students' cases managed by the Office for Civil Rights.

MURRAY: Let me ask you, a little over a year ago, you made the decision to eliminate more than half the staff in the Office for Civil Rights and close half of the regional field offices.

Now, you've testified repeatedly that students won't even notice your efforts to abolish the Department-but I'd like to hear you tell that to the students and parents who have yet to hear anything about their case, let alone have it be fully investigated and resolved.

Because you know-in President Trump's first year of his first term, OCR resolved about 60 sexual harassment cases and 15 sexual assault cases.

Can you tell me how many of these cases were resolved in the first year of this term?

MCMAHON: Well, I can tell you what we are doing with our OCR program. We are definitely moving forward. We inherited-

MURRAY: No, I asked how many-

MCMAHON: We inherited about 19,000 backlog of cases from the Biden administration-

MURRAY: How many of those were resolved last year?

MCMAHON: So, what we have done, and I have hired into the Department of Education, Kim Richey, who was the director of that department-

MURRAY: I had a quick question, and I have more questions, so I want you to answer the question I asked [which] is how many of those cases were resolved last year?

MCMAHON: We are moving to resolve as many cases as we can, we are bringing back many of those lawyers which were part of that RIF. And there was a time when we were not processing cases as quickly as we should, but we are now focused on that and moving forward with the expertise-

MURRAY: For the record, the answer to my question is zero.

MCMAHON: We are moving forward to resolve those cases today.

MURRAY: Okay, as of this morning, 1% of all cases last year were resolved. 78% fewer cases were resolved than the year before. And really, we have to understand what that means is that kids are being denied equal access to education they are entitled to under law are now also being denied the justice they deserve.

And that is really wrong. So, you said you're hiring people back, I want to see what those numbers are, I want to see what cases are being resolved because I think it's really our responsibility to make sure those kids get the education they are promised.

MCMAHON: Well, I'd be anxious to share those with you because-

MURRAY: Well, right now, it's zero.

MCMAHON: What we're putting in place is to move forward, and so I'll be happy to share that with you-

MURRAY: Happy to hear that but just telling this committee that it's going to happen someday, to me, is not making sure those kids get an education.

MCMAHON: Well, I've hired the person and brought them back who made all of those things work in the first Trump administration, left office with 4,500 backloaded cases, and inherited again 19,000 from the Biden administration and has a full on attack now to resolve those cases, and we're moving forward to make sure that gets handled.

MURRAY: Just for the record, we expect to see progress.

MCMAHON: So, do I.

MURRAY: Okay, I'm glad to hear that.

[McMahon Creating Extra Layers of Bureaucracy]

Senator Murray then addressed how the inter-agency agreements (IAAs) Secretary McMahon has illegally inked to offload fundamental Department of Education responsibilities to other federal agencies are ultimately doing nothing to make education programs more efficient-and are jeopardizing funding and support for students and schools.

MURRAY: Also, you have decided to move the Title I program and important parent and family engagement requirements to the Department of Labor. You've decided that agency, which, by the way, has no experience making sure families of K-12 students can meaningfully participate in their child's education, to take over. Meanwhile, you are moving other parent and family engagement programming to HHS.

So, just for everyone to understand, now, if you are a superintendent looking for resources to help get parents more involved in their kid's education, you have to contact at least three different federal agencies to get an answer.

So, how does that split help parents get involved in their kids' schools? How does that create efficiency?

MCMAHON: Well-what we want to do is to make sure that kids have the same access that they need. These parents-you know, let me just back up for one second, and I'll just take a minute to do this.

The implication is that we just pick up a program out of the Department and stick it in another department. But, that's not how it works, the people who are managing the functions in the Department of Education are being detailed to the other department, so that the contacts that these parents have had, the numbers, the emails they have to reach out to are the same. They're just located in a different agency.

MURRAY: Okay, but it is clear right now you have to contact three different agencies, and for the record-

MCMAHON: No, it is not clear, that is incorrect.

MURRAY: Yeah, it is correct and it's not efficient and it's not smart.

MCMAHON: It's not, I beg to disagree.

MURRAY: Well, we have a disagreement and I'm happy to-

MCMAHON: We'll have to agree to disagree on that because you're incorrect.

[Closing Comments]

MURRAY: Okay, well my time is up, but I just think that students in our country absolutely are being hurt by the actions we are seeing right now-and the budget that is front of us makes it even worse.

We have got to make sure we are training our teachers and providing our students access. And this budget, I really believe, leaves kids behind.

So, we have a lot of work in our Appropriations committee to make sure we meet the demands of families, and I will work with this committee to make sure we do that. Thank you.

MCMAHON: And I would just like to have one more response, and that is we have been doing the same thing since 1980, since this department was developed. Our scores have gone down, our kids haven't improved. We have had some good programs in place, that we want to continue, we want to evaluate them, we want to make sure that those programs can continue and be enhanced. But I have to tell you, we have failed these generations of our children who cannot read and write.

MURRAY: Well, Madame Secretary, you and I just have a difference of opinion on how to make clear that we are working towards that goal. And having worked on many budgets and many authorization programs to continue our work to do that, I don't think dismantling the Department of Education is the right call.

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