3 takeaways from McMahon’s testimony on Trump’s FY26 budget plan

An article from

The education secretary defended the proposed elimination of federal funding for TRIO and Gear Up despite bipartisan pushback from lawmakers.

Published June 3, 2025 Natalie Schwartz's headshot

Natalie Schwartz Senior Editor Linda McMahon speaks while seated at a podium.

U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon testifies before the Senate Appropriations Committee's education subcommittee about President Donald Trump's proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 on Capitol Hill on June 3, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images

Listen to the article 8 min This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback.

U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon testified before the Senate Appropriation Committee’s education subcommittee Tuesday, defending the Trump administration’s budget plan for fiscal 2026 that would dramatically reduce federal education spending.

The president's proposal includes a 15.3% reduction to the U.S. Department of Education, including by lowering the maximum Pell Grant by nearly a quarter to $5,710 per year and cutting a supplemental federal aid program for low-income students.

McMahon said the budget plan would reduce bureaucracy and take “a significant step” toward the Trump administration’s stated goal of dismantling the Education Department and giving states more control over education.

waitToLoadAds.push(function() { googletag.cmd.push(function() { if (window.dfp_visibility == 'mobile' ) { window.onDvtagReady?.(() => googletag.display('dfp-hybrid1-mobile')); googletag.pubads().addEventListener('slotRenderEnded', function (event) { var adUnitPath = '/3618/highereddive/highereddivehybrid1'; var onProformative = false; if (onProformative && event.slot.getAdUnitPath() === adUnitPath && !event.isEmpty ) { var adUnitPathWithVisibility = adUnitPath + '-mobile'; var selector = '.pf-comments__ad-wrapper [data-container-ad-unit-id="' + adUnitPathWithVisibility + '"]'; if (!$(selector).closest('.pf-comments__ad-wrapper').hasClass('borders')) { $(selector).closest('.pf-comments__ad-wrapper').addClass('borders') } } }); } }); }); waitToLoadAds.push(function() { googletag.cmd.push(function() { if (window.dfp_visibility == 'desktop' ) { window.onDvtagReady?.(() => googletag.display('dfp-hybrid2-desktop')); googletag.pubads().addEventListener('slotRenderEnded', function (event) { var adUnitPath = '/3618/highereddive/highereddivehybrid2'; var onProformative = false; if (onProformative && event.slot.getAdUnitPath() === adUnitPath && !event.isEmpty ) { var adUnitPathWithVisibility = adUnitPath + '-desktop'; var selector = '.pf-comments__ad-wrapper [data-container-ad-unit-id="' + adUnitPathWithVisibility + '"]'; if (!$(selector).closest('.pf-comments__ad-wrapper').hasClass('borders')) { $(selector).closest('.pf-comments__ad-wrapper').addClass('borders') } } }); } }); });

While some of the Republicans on the panel praised the Trump administration’s initiatives, including the proposed increase in federal funding for charter schools, many lawmakers raised concerns about the budget’s vast reductions.

Below are three takeaways about how congressional lawmakers reacted during the hearing to the budget plan’s higher education provisions.

Staunch defense for TRIO and Gear Up

Democratic and Republican senators alike urged McMahon to preserve federal funding for the TRIO and Gear Up programs, both of which aim to help disadvantaged students attend and graduate college.

However, McMahon defended the Trump administration’s request to end all $1.6 billion in federal funding that go toward TRIO and Gear Up grants.

“I just think that we aren't able to see the effectiveness across the board that we would normally look to see with our federal spending,” McMahon said.

McMahon also argued that the Education Department doesn’t have enough oversight over the TRIO.

“These programs were negotiated at very tough terms,” McMahon said. “The Department of Education has no ability to go in and look at the accountability of TRIO programs.”

She suggested that the Trump administration work with lawmakers to audit TRIO and “attach accountabilities” to it if lawmakers continue funding it.

However, Sen. Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon, pushed back against McMahon’s assertion that the program lacked accountability, pointing to a recent report from the Pell Institute. The higher education research organization, in part, summarized reports commissioned by the Education Department to study the TRIO program.

One 2015 evaluation found that learners in TRIO’s Student Support Services Program were 78% more likely to complete an associate degree or credential, or transfer to a four-year college, after entering a two-year institution than those who didn’t participate, according to a 2024 report from the Pell Institute. Similarly, TRIO students who entered a four-year institution were 23% more likely to graduate with a bachelor’s degree.

“Let me just say your argument that there's no studies, no accountability, it's just actually wrong,” Merkley said.

‘Unprecedented steps to extort schools and universities’

Democratic lawmakers took issue with the Trump administration’s fight with Harvard University and other high-profile colleges, arguing that federal officials were attempting to exert unprecedented influence on both classroom instruction and their daily operations.

“You claim the administration's goal of eliminating the department is about returning education to the states,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat from Wisconsin. “At the same time, this administration is attempting to exert more control than ever over the decisions in our schools and campuses.”

Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington, also pushed back against the Trump administration’s assertion that its budget would give states more control over education.

“The reality is this administration is actually taking unprecedented steps to extort schools and universities and hold federal funding hostage if they don't conform with your agenda,” Murray said. “It's pretty clear that returning education to the states actually means letting states and colleges and local communities pick up the tab.”

The Trump administration has threatened vast swathes of federal funding for both colleges and K-12 schools. That includes freezing or nixing over $2.6 billion of Harvard’s federal grants or contracts after the Ivy League institution refused to yield the Trump administration’s demands to make changes to academics, admissions and hiring.

Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, pushed back on the demands the Trump administration issued to Harvard, which included an audit of the viewpoint diversity of both students and faculty.

“What statute gives you the right to tell any university that they have to have a certain mixture of viewpoints?” Murphy said.

The Education Department and other federal agencies claim that Harvard has violated civil rights law by not doing enough to protect Jewish students from harassment. Harvard President Alan Garber indicated in April that the university needed to do more to address the campus climate following twin reports on bias against Jewish, Israeli, Muslim, Arab and Palestinian students and employees..

McMahon on Tuesday said both Garber and Columbia University’s president have indicated they need to do more to address antisemitism. She also said civil rights violations are what led the Trump administration to pull funding from Harvard.

“That was kind of the crux of what brought us into talking to the different universities,” McMahon said. “And then we sat down with them to say, ‘Okay, these are other issues that you need to address on your campus, because you do receive federal funding.’”

In late March, Columbia agreed to a list of demands it received from the Trump administration.

waitToLoadAds.push(function() { googletag.cmd.push(function() { if (window.dfp_visibility == 'desktop' ) { window.onDvtagReady?.(() => googletag.display('dfp-hybrid4-desktop')); googletag.pubads().addEventListener('slotRenderEnded', function (event) { var adUnitPath = '/3618/highereddive/highereddivehybrid4'; var onProformative = false; if (onProformative && event.slot.getAdUnitPath() === adUnitPath && !event.isEmpty ) { var adUnitPathWithVisibility = adUnitPath + '-desktop'; var selector = '.pf-comments__ad-wrapper [data-container-ad-unit-id="' + adUnitPathWithVisibility + '"]'; if (!$(selector).closest('.pf-comments__ad-wrapper').hasClass('borders')) { $(selector).closest('.pf-comments__ad-wrapper').addClass('borders') } } }); } }); }); Concerns over OCR funding

Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers voiced concerns about the Education Department’s deep cuts to the Office for Civil Rights, which investigates harassment and discrimination at colleges and K-12 schools. That includes Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican from West Virginia, who asked McMahon how the Education Department would work to prevent antisemitism on college campuses.

“Our Office [for] Civil Rights has opened many cases looking at antisemitism, and we are actively enforcing that,” McMahon replied, citing the Trump administration’s suspension of federal funding to Harvard and $400 million to Columbia University over claims neither institution has done enough to protect Jewish students from harassment.

“We’re saying we mean business,” McMahon added.

The Trump administration has also proposed a 35% cut to the office for fiscal year 2026. The Education Department has also cut hundreds of OCR staffers and shuttered seven of 12 regional offices during its mass layoffs earlier this year, though a federal judge recently ordered the agency to reinstate fired employees.

“You're one person,” Capito said. “You need the support and the backup of that office to be able to investigate these cases.”

McMahon also gave insight into OCR’s case backlog. She said the Education Department inherited 20,000 cases from the Biden administration, a number that is now down to about 2,500.

“One of the things that we found is some of those cases were like one-page complaints, and we've really been able to get rid of many of them,” McMahon said.

In response, Murray asked McMahon if the Education Department would provide quarterly reports on OCR’s caseload so they can determine whether the office is “simply dismissing these cases or doing its job.”

McMahon agreed to the reports, adding, “I can assure you it’s doing its job.”

Filed Under: Policy & Legal Higher Ed Dive news delivered to your inbox

Get the free daily newsletter read by industry experts

Email:

Select user consent: By signing up to receive our newsletter, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe at anytime.

Editors' picks

Alex Kent via Getty Images Columbia University vows to remove any future encampments
The Ivy League institution also threatened student protesters with arrest amid reports that demonstrators were planning more encampments.
By Natalie Schwartz and Laura Spitalniak • April 24, 2025
Win McNamee/Getty Images via Getty Images ‘The gatekeepers’: Trump’s action on accreditation sparks concerns over government intrusion
The president signed a directive seeking to punish accreditors for diversity criteria while easing the path for new quality-assurance bodies.
By Ben Unglesbee • April 24, 2025

Keep up with the story. Subscribe to the Higher Ed Dive free daily newsletter

Email:

Select user consent: By signing up to receive our newsletter, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe at anytime.

Sign up A valid email address is required. Please select at least one newsletter. var siteName = 'Higher Ed Dive' || null; if (siteName) { setupFormCallbackAndCreateFormIfSub(siteName, 'inline'); } $(document).ready(function () { // copy the contents of the generic_signup partial into the desktop_signup_spot $desktop_signup_spot = $("#desktop-inline-signup"); $desktop_signup = $("#inline-signup-html-desktop").children(); $desktop_signup_spot.append($desktop_signup); $("#inline-signup-html-desktop").remove(); }); University of Phoenix

A blush-colored, stately old house that has been repurposed into an academic building

The side of a building with white stone and windows is shown. Letters on the building read: U.S. Department of Education

Department of State sign outside office building.

Students rally in front of the U.S. Department of Education, with one speaking into a microphone

The campus of Eastern Michigan University, in Ypsilanti, Mich.

ES by OMG

Euro-Savings.com |Buy More, Pay Less | Anywhere in Europe

Shop Smarter, Stretch your Euro & Stack the Savings | Latest Discounts & Deals, Best Coupon Codes & Promotions in Europe | Your Favourite Stores update directly every Second

Euro-Savings.com or ES lets you buy more and pay less anywhere in Europe. Shop Smarter on ES Today. Sign-up to receive Latest Discounts, Deals, Coupon Codes & Promotions. With Direct Brand Updates every second, ES is Every Shopper’s Dream come true! Stretch your dollar now with ES. Start saving today!

Originally posted on: https://www.highereddive.com/news/mcmahon-senate-testimony-trump-26-budget/749739/

3 takeaways from McMahon’s testimony on Trump’s FY26 budget plan

ES by OMG

Euro-Savings.com |Buy More, Pay Less | Anywhere in Europe

Share

Categories

Share