Por Renan Filho · 2026-10-24**Lead**
Linda McMahon, the former head of the Small Business Administration under President Donald Trump and a longtime champion of school choice, declared on Thursday that she will “fire herself” from her current role as chair of the American Education Reform Foundation (AERF) to underscore her belief that the U.S. Department of Education is an unnecessary federal bureaucracy. The announcement, made during a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., is the latest salvo in a decades-long conservative campaign to dismantle the department, which was established in 1979 under President Jimmy Carter.
**Context**
McMahon, 77, has been a prominent figure in Republican education policy circles since leaving the SBA in 2019. She served as the head of the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019, where she focused on deregulation and reducing federal oversight. Prior to that, she co-founded World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) with her husband Vince McMahon and later ran for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut in 2010 and 2012, losing both races. Her pivot to education reform came after her tenure in the Trump administration, where she advocated for expanding school vouchers and charter schools.
The American Education Reform Foundation, a nonprofit organization that McMahon chairs, has long argued that the Department of Education’s $80 billion annual budget (as of fiscal year 2025) is wasteful and that education policy should be returned to states and localities. The department oversees federal student aid, civil rights enforcement in schools, and data collection, among other functions. Critics on the right, including McMahon, contend that its existence has led to a one-size-fits-all approach that stifles innovation and parental choice.
McMahon’s plan to “fire herself” is a theatrical gesture designed to mirror what she believes should happen to the entire department. In her prepared remarks, she stated that if a single individual can voluntarily step away from a position without harming the education system, then a federal agency of thousands can be eliminated without consequence. She did not specify a date for her resignation but said it would occur “as soon as Congress introduces a bill to abolish the Department of Education.”
**Análise**
The move is unlikely to have any immediate legislative impact, but it serves to reignite a debate that has simmered for decades. The Department of Education has been a target of Republican lawmakers since the Reagan era, with calls for its abolition peaking during the Trump administration. In 2023, a bill to eliminate the department was introduced in the House by Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY), but it failed to advance. With the 2026 midterm elections approaching, McMahon’s stunt may be intended to pressure GOP candidates to adopt the issue as a campaign plank.
However, the political calculus is complicated. Polling consistently shows that a majority of Americans support the federal government’s role in ensuring equal access to education, particularly for low-income students and students with disabilities. The department administers Title I funds for disadvantaged schools and enforces the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Abolishing it would require transferring these responsibilities to other agencies or to states, a logistical nightmare that even some conservative education experts acknowledge.
McMahon’s self-immolation as a leader of a think tank also raises questions about the effectiveness of symbolic gestures. While she may galvanize the base, moderate voters might view the act as gimmicky. Furthermore, her own record at the SBA was mixed: while she championed deregulation, the agency faced criticism for slow disaster loan processing during hurricanes. Her credibility on education is also limited—she has never held a teaching or school administration position.
**Fontes**
- Linda McMahon’s public remarks at the National Press Club, October 24, 2026. - Congressional Budget Office data on Department of Education appropriations (FY2025). - Previous statements by Representative Thomas Massie on H.R. 899 (2023) to abolish the Department of Education. - Pew Research Center polling on public opinion of federal education role (2024). - News reports from The Associated Press and The Washington Post on McMahon’s SBA tenure.