Linda McMahon’s Latest Excuse STUNNED Chris Murphy: "How Do You Defend That?"

[0:00] In the Bush, but it's important that you bring back people to health. [0:02] But I mean, you're saying you were trying to figure out how to better resolve cases. [0:05] You resolved not a single case in Connecticut in 2025. [0:10] I mean, how do you defend that? [0:12] Here's my real question here. [0:15] As Secretary of Education, which do you think helps our nation more? [0:21] Getting free lunch to more than a million more kids, 15,000 more teachers, or the ballroom? [0:28] I think those are incredibly weird comparisons. [0:36] We're talking about nursing, ma'am. [0:37] Well, I hope that they'll look at other programs to reduce their costs. [0:39] Because business is not something that you had an impact on. [0:42] I don't have control over which programs they're doing. [0:45] But if they have fewer applicants coming into their universities, [0:50] and they realize part of the reason is because their cost is too high, they will lower those costs. [0:57] I don't think that is how it works. [1:00] It is exactly how it works. [1:01] That is not how it works. [1:02] It did act specifically about black children. [1:05] About black children. [1:05] All children should be treated equally. [1:07] Absolutely, but they're not. [1:08] Well, they should be. [1:09] But they aren't. [1:11] Well, governors in states and superintendents need to look at the laws in their particular states [1:18] that are relative to their states. [1:19] I want to just tell you a quick story so you can understand why Senator Murray and many of us on this committee [1:26] care deeply about what you have been doing to try to destroy the Office of Civil Rights. [1:32] Amy Kupp is a parent in Indiana. [1:35] She was very alarmed when her daughter came home one day with severe bruising on her hands and arms. [1:41] Her daughter has severe autism, a group of different disabilities. [1:47] What she came to find out is that the school that her daughter was at had been restraining and secluding her daughter. [1:56] In fact, her daughter spent 23 hours over 29 different times in what the school referred to as the blue room, [2:07] a padded room in which this girl was thrown in by herself, spent 23 hours in the first just few months of her sixth grade year. [2:18] This family got no resolution from the school district, and so they went to the Office of Civil Rights. [2:23] Their case was proceeding until you were sworn in. [2:26] And when you were sworn in, their case ended. [2:29] They were given a notice that the Chicago field office was shut down [2:33] and that there would be no further processing of their case. [2:38] They went to court along with many other families. [2:41] And I heard you say to Senator Murray that things are getting better at OCR [2:45] and that you are now processing cases again. [2:48] But my understanding is you're doing that not out of your own volition, [2:52] but because the parents sued you and the court found that you were in gross violation of the law, [2:57] having fired half the attorneys at the office, having closed down all these field offices that parents rely on. [3:06] So what was going on in 2025? [3:09] I mean, why did you decide to shut down these field offices, to illegally fire half the attorneys? [3:16] I hear you and want to believe you that things are going to get better. [3:19] But obviously, you spent an entire year trying to eliminate the functions of this office. [3:26] And I'll give you a numerical example. [3:28] In Connecticut, in your home state, when you came into office, there were 127 pending claims at OCR. [3:37] Half of them were kids with disabilities who were relying on you to help them. [3:42] Do you know how many cases got resolved positively for families in Connecticut in 2025? [3:49] Zero. [3:51] Not a single child got a positive resolution, got help from the Department of Education, [3:57] having filed a disability claim in 2025. [4:00] That is unacceptable. [4:02] So I guess tell me why you did that. [4:05] And am I wrong that the only reason that you're restarting anything at OCR [4:09] is because the court is telling you you have to do it? [4:11] Oh, you're clearly wrong about that, Senator. [4:14] We definitely did not shut down the Department of Civil Rights at the Department of Education [4:22] before I got there. [4:24] And then the RIF happened, I think, a week after I was sworn in. [4:30] Yeah. [4:30] But the process had been in place to reduce greatly the Department of Education, [4:38] the number of people there under very stringent budgetary requirements [4:42] that we were given. [4:44] And so this was part of a rift that happened. [4:47] But we were in the process of looking at how to make sure that our Office of Civil Rights [4:55] was, in fact, going to be able to handle cases, [4:58] trying to make sure that we could get as many of them handled as possible. [5:01] And so that is why Kim Ritchie was brought back. [5:05] Part of the reason that she was brought back. [5:07] I hired her. [5:07] I found her because she had been the most effective person in the prior Trump administration [5:12] in the Bush. [5:13] But it's important that you do. [5:14] But I mean, you're saying you were trying to figure out how to better resolve cases. [5:17] You resolved not a single case in Connecticut in 2025. [5:22] I mean, how do you how do you defend that? [5:24] Not a single child in Connecticut got a positive resolution from the Department of Education [5:29] for their discrimination claims. [5:31] Seventy of them had disability claims. [5:33] How do you defend that? [5:34] Well, it is very difficult when I'm trying to address those particular issues, [5:40] except to know that those things were happening. [5:43] And we are looking forward to make sure that they stop happening. [5:46] But you fired half the department. [5:48] But that is hindsight. [5:50] What we are doing now. [5:51] What does that mean? [5:51] Is that you know perfectly well what it is. [5:54] We've brought people on board to handle these cases because I believe that they should be handled. [5:59] We should be dismissing these cases. [6:00] We should be finding resolutions to them. [6:03] And so those attorneys are being brought back. [6:05] They were. [6:06] How many of them have been brought back? [6:09] All of the ones that were fired who didn't take early retirement. [6:12] They came back and we are in this budget have more money to hire more lawyers. [6:16] No, this budget proposes a 35 percent reduction to the Office of Civil Rights. [6:21] And so that's my final question. [6:23] No, but it but it is a budget of increasing dollars for civil rights. [6:27] And we are. [6:27] And we are hiring more lawyers. [6:29] No, it's not. [6:29] No, no, no, it's not. [6:29] This office, this this budget has a 35 percent proposed reduction for the Office of Civil Rights. [6:36] Well, we are moving forward to make sure that. [6:38] Wait, let's just. [6:39] That's true, right? [6:40] Resolution, expanded mediations, multi-regional teams. [6:43] Well, but let's just get some. [6:44] Let's just agree to the facts, right? [6:45] This use of you will agree that this budget reduces. [6:49] You're proposing to reduce funding for the department by 35 percent. [6:53] No, I'm not agreeing to that. [6:55] But the. [6:56] Here's what I'm saying. [6:58] We are bringing back lawyers. [7:00] We are hiring new lawyers to address this back load with the person who had been so successful [7:05] before in getting this done. [7:07] When she left office, there was a 4,500 backlog. [7:12] And now from the Biden administration, there's 19,000 more. [7:15] And so we are addressing them for rapid mediation, expanded resolution and multi-regional teams [7:22] that we have now put back in place. [7:24] So addressing the issues that happened in the past. [7:27] I mean, it's like black is white. [7:29] It's a 35 percent cut. [7:30] We're inadequate. [7:31] We're inadequate. [7:32] But going forward. [7:33] I'm going to call this down. [7:35] Did you want to make one last comment, Senator? [7:37] OK. [7:38] Senator Britt. [7:39] Good morning, Secretary McMahon. [7:41] We're here to talk about the budget for the Department of Education. [7:46] So I'd like to ask you a couple of questions about school funding and funding in our schools. [7:52] Can you tell me how much more or less it costs to give a child free lunch at a public school? [7:57] Well, the Department of Education does not control. [8:00] That's not part of our budget. [8:01] I know. [8:01] But when the USDA does that funding, it's about $4.60 for a school lunch. [8:08] Do you know about how much the average school teacher makes at a public school per year? [8:15] That varies across different states. [8:17] Anywhere from 40-some thousand to 90-some thousand. [8:20] That's right. [8:20] Yeah, that's right. [8:21] It's about $64,000 on average nationwide. [8:24] So here's an easy one because it's all over the news. [8:28] Can you tell us how much Congress is being asked to vote on next week for President Trump's ballroom? [8:37] I don't know that answer. [8:39] It's a billion dollars. [8:40] And you're a businesswoman, so I'm hoping you can help me do some math here. [8:45] $4.60 for a school lunch, a billion dollars for a ballroom. [8:51] Can you tell me about how many free school lunches that billion dollars could pay for? [8:56] It is my understanding on the ballroom, excuse me, and I've heard the president say this, [9:01] the taxpayer dollars will not be used to build a ballroom, but they are donations from private enterprise. [9:06] So, Mr. Chairman, I have entered into the record. [9:10] Some Republicans, this article from NBC yesterday, some Republicans aren't sold on $1 billion price tag [9:16] for Trump's ballroom project in party-line GOP bill. [9:19] Without objection? [9:20] We are voting on $1 billion in taxpayer dollars in addition to those private donations. [9:27] And so for those billion dollars in taxpayer dollars, at $4.60 a lunch, that is 217,391,304 lunches. [9:38] That's lunch for more than a million kids, a million Americans for the entire school year. [9:43] But let's say that we're not going to talk about lunches because that's USDA, we can talk about teachers. [9:49] At $64,000 a year, do we know how many new teachers we could hire if we sent a billion dollars out to the states [9:58] for reducing class sizes and hiring more teachers? [10:01] I'm sure you have that number. [10:03] Yes, it is 15,000 more teachers. [10:06] Or we could pay for the Office of Civil Rights that's being cut in this budget seven times over. [10:11] I think you get the point. [10:13] So here's my real question here. [10:16] As Secretary of Education, which do you think helps our nation more? [10:23] Getting free lunch to more than a million more kids, 15,000 more teachers, or the ballroom? [10:32] I think those are incredibly weird comparisons. [10:38] I do believe that our teachers should be paid well for what they do. [10:42] I think teachers are underpaid. [10:43] I think teachers should also be paid for performance. [10:46] And I would like to see us have our teachers be compensated. [10:50] I'd like to also see that there would be teachers who are paid more than administrators in schools. [10:57] We have more administrators, you know, than, and they're paid higher salaries than our teachers are. [11:02] And I think state budgets, all of that, should take all of that into consideration [11:06] when they're hiring their teachers, because it is state budgets. [11:10] Then I do think it is weird that next week, like you said, it's a weird question, [11:15] because it's weird that next week we're being asked to vote for a billion dollars for a ballroom, [11:20] while there are cuts to the Department of Education and cuts to education. [11:25] In my own community in Austin, Texas, they are about to cut 200 positions at Austin ISD, close 10 schools. [11:34] This budget makes it worse by cutting the equivalent of about 400 teachers' salaries in my district. [11:41] So I'm asking for you, as being a member of Donald Trump's cabinet, to tell us, [11:47] do you support a billion dollars for the ballroom when we could use that billion dollars to raise teacher salaries, [11:54] as you've said, or use that billion dollars to hire 15,000 more teachers? [11:59] How can you defend the ballroom, or do you defend the ballroom, [12:02] if we could use that billion dollars for the needs of our kids and our schools? [12:06] Congressman, those budgets that you're alluding to are state budgets. [12:10] They're not federal budgets. [12:11] But we send money to the states and their school districts, and they hire teachers, right? [12:16] Teachers' salaries come out of state budgets. They don't come out of federal budgets. [12:20] When we send federal money to schools, and then they hire teachers. [12:25] When you send Title I money to schools, when they get grants from the federal government, they hire staff. [12:31] They hire teachers. They're getting a cut here. [12:33] We could send a billion dollars more, but it sounds like you don't want to defend Donald Trump's ballroom here. [12:40] I think the ballroom has many different opportunities, and the president has alluded to them. [12:46] I think we saw one just recently when there was an attempted assassination on the president's life in a ballroom that was not secure. [12:56] Right. And of course, that was horrific and unacceptable. [12:59] The question before us is, if we were to vote on an extra billion dollars, do you think it should go to our kids and education, or to this East Ballroom project? [13:11] I think we need to look at the budget overall in its entirety. [13:14] And I think the gentleman's... [13:15] I yield back. [13:16] ...has expired. [13:16] I yield back, and I now recognize the gentleman from Ohio, Mr. Rooley. [13:22] It's been almost a year since you were last before our committee. [13:27] At that time, you could not tell me if you considered lesson plans on the Tulsa race massacre, or a book by Ruby Bridges to be a so-called illegal DEI. [13:35] I'd like to very quickly revisit that, because you did say that you would look into those topics. [13:41] Have you done so? [13:42] Yes, I have. [13:42] Could you please tell us what you have gleaned from that? [13:46] You know, particular programs on their face are not the issue. [13:52] It is how those programs are treated. [13:54] And so if we were looking at both of those incidents, you know, that you raised... [13:59] Yes, ma'am. [14:00] ...and you would just ask me, were these things that should or should not be taught? [14:04] I would say they should be taught. [14:06] They should be taught truthfully in their entirety. [14:08] Thank you so much. [14:09] I appreciate that. [14:09] So has that knowledge changed your outlook or your approach on education policy? [14:15] I believe that I think history should be taught and should be taught accurately and truthfully. [14:21] Yes, ma'am. [14:22] I thank you for that. [14:23] You, of all people, should have a stake in learning about segregation and educational inequity in this country. [14:29] And I appreciate you taking that brief time because you are leading the federal agency that was created to help right these historic and systemic injustices. [14:37] I do, however, have a concern because this administration has still made it abundantly clear that it is more interested in reviving these injustices and restoring them to the status quo. [14:46] As part of your crusade to illegally dismantle the Department of Education, your fiscal year 27 budget proposal consolidates 17 programs into a single reduced block grant. [14:57] States will be left to decide which students' needs they're going to meet, and they'll have $4.6 billion fewer to meet those needs. [15:05] Pennsylvania stands to lose about $265 million with your budget, including $39 million due to the consolidated block grants. [15:13] My district will lose $13 million, including about $2 million from the block grant. [15:19] My concern is that you're here celebrating this, that our country will be meeting fewer children's needs. [15:26] This block grant consolidates programs that support children experiencing homelessness, students in or returning from carceral facilities, or programs that promote school desegregation. [15:34] Your agency is counting on the fact that states won't administer programs for all of these students because they'll no longer have the financial incentive or financial means to do so. [15:45] We already know what happens when we leave desegregation up to the states. [15:49] This block grant proposal is as much about state rights as desegregation and segregation was. [15:54] After Brown v. Board, many states only stopped resisting desegregation when Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 64 and then the Elementary and Secretary Education Acts of 65. [16:06] We needed federal education policies and programs because those states could not be trusted to not be racist. [16:12] And this isn't a relic of the past. [16:15] School segregation is still rampant. [16:18] And as we speak, states are jumping at the restored opportunity to disenfranchise millions of black voters in southern states. [16:25] Secretary McMahon, how do you think we are going to move forward as a nation if we leave the education of black children, for instance, solely up to states that are currently disenfranchising them or inequitably funding their schools? [16:38] Well, thank you very much for your comments, and I can certainly appreciate your passion for what you were talking about. [16:46] The Department of Education is a pass-through of funding. [16:50] We don't control curriculum in the states. [16:52] Certainly. [16:53] But you do control the enforcement mechanisms, such as the Office of Civil Rights, where we have seen very little enforcement there. [17:01] You control staffing, which then trickle down, of course, the policies. [17:05] But also, those larger funding streams that make it or don't make it to states dictate whether a state is able to implement programs that help or protect students based on disability or race or religion, et cetera. [17:18] Well, if we're talking about disabilities, that comes through IDEA. [17:21] Those are in federal law. [17:23] Yes. [17:23] And those programs will continue to be funded through those. [17:26] Certainly. [17:26] But I did ask specifically about black children. [17:29] About black children. [17:29] All children should be treated equally. [17:31] Absolutely. [17:31] But they're not. [17:33] Well, they should be. [17:33] But they aren't. [17:34] Well, governors in states and superintendents need to look at the laws in their particular states that are relative to their states. [17:44] What do you believe is the federal role in ensuring that states are not able to, whether it be discriminate or disproportionately punish students based on race or disability, [17:55] or implement programs that were previously funded by the federal level and no longer will be because of the consolidated block grants? [18:03] Well, I'm not sure your framing is correct. [18:05] Yes. [18:05] The reasoning for the consolidated block grants is so that governors and state superintendents of schools can look at where money needs to be spent in their states so that they can utilize that money in the best way. [18:17] But as I demonstrated with Pennsylvania, the state, my commonwealth, will have fewer dollars to implement any programs. [18:23] Well, we, there is less funding. [18:26] However, there will also be less regulation. [18:29] Yes. [18:29] And that regulation was needed to protect students. [18:30] You won't have to hire as many people to grant programs. [18:32] Particularly children with disabilities. [18:34] All of those things. [18:34] From voucher programs that prioritize schools that aren't accountable to IDEA. [18:38] It has protected immigrant students from states that overturned their legal right to a public education. [18:42] It has protected Muslim and Jewish students in states where they would otherwise require that public schools display a Protestant version of the Ten Commandments and so on. [18:49] It is important that we have federal programs, federal oversight, and federal regulations to ensure that states are implementing appropriate education. [18:58] The gentlelady's time has expired. [18:59] Thank you. [18:59] I yield back. [19:00] Just, but just one comment. [19:01] We are not changing civil rights law. [19:03] That will continue to stay in place and exist. [19:06] I now recognize the gentleman from Missouri, Mr. Under. [19:10] I do the same. [19:28] I've heard more than, yeah. [19:29] I see so many people supporting my private culture. [19:30] We are Wid biz. [19:30] I do. [19:32] We have a lot of people shooting in different cities. [19:32] 面白 łat zig. [19:33] I do the same spot so that everybody's got ourselves to do without some products. [19:34] We want them to be able to offset the building. [19:36] Instead we are a minimum. [19:36] It's safe that the people are going to be able to lower health. [19:37] Where in the healthcare system are going to be one degree. [19:38] We are back to the building. [19:38] Thank you so much.