By Shauneen Miranda | AZ Mirror
U.S. senators from both parties pressed Education Secretary Linda McMahon on Tuesday over the Trump administration’s proposal to eliminate funding for key programs administered by the Education Department for disadvantaged and low-income students.
McMahon defended those and other sweeping changes outlined in President Donald Trump’s fiscal year 2026 budget request — which calls for $12 billion in spending cuts at the department — while testifying before the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies to outline the president’s proposal.
Tuesday’s hearing followed the Education secretary’s testimony in front of the corresponding House panel in May. The House and Senate appropriations committees share jurisdiction over the bill to fund the department for the coming fiscal year.
McMahon said the budget request takes a “significant step” toward her and Trump’s goal “to responsibly eliminate the federal bureaucracy, cut waste and give education back to states, parents and educators.”
