As expected, Linda McMahon has been nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to his cabinet. It’s a different position than the former WWE president was originally rumored for — Education as opposed to Commerce — but it’s arguably an even higher-profile assignment given reports that eliminating the federal Department of Education is a priority for Trump in his second term as President.
McMahon has been a Trump World fixture since Trump’s 2016 campaign for the nation’s highest office. She’s donated millions to, and later led, Super PACs dedicated to his election and reelection, served as the head of the Small Business Administration from 2017-2019, and is currently the co-chair of his transition team. But her latest appointment is bringing more attention to McMahon’s résumé, at a time when she, her husband, and the company they used to run are the focus of a pair of lawsuits that raise serious questions about the culture they fostered at WWE.
Though she resigned from WWE in 2009 to pursue the first of two failed Senate bids in her home state of Connecticut, Linda McMahon was a member of its leadership team (along with husband Vince) during many of the scandals in the company’s history. She is named as a defendant in a new lawsuit stemming from one of those, the so-called “Ring Boy” scandal. The suit, filed by five anonymous plaintiffs, who were recruited to help set up at shows in the late 1980s and early 1990s, alleges that the McMahons took no meaningful action despite being aware that company officials were sexually abusing the young men.
In a statement to The Washington Post given after Linda McMahon’s nomination became official, her attorney Laura Brevetti called the Ring Boys lawsuit “baseless”. Brevetti also revealed that Linda and Vince McMahon are currently separated — something that’s been rumored in wrestling circles for years.
While she isn’t named in the other active lawsuit against WWE and her husband, its shadow looms over her nomination as well. Along with former WWE executive John Laurinaitis and the organization itself, Vince McMahon is accused of sexual abuse and trafficking in a suit filed by former girlfriend and WWE employee Janel Grant in January of this year. Along with a 2022 WWE Board investigation into hush money payments Vince made to Grant and other women in exchange for signing non-disclosure agreements about their relationships with the former WWE Chairman, Grant’s suit forms the basis of a federal investigation of Vince McMahon by the Southern District of New York.
Many believe the investigation will go away under Trump’s remade Justice Department, which could be led by former U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz — a much more controversial nominee than Linda McMahon. Vince McMahon is also a major donor to Trump’s political machine, and was reportedly one of the President-elect’s close confidants, as Trump was being convicted on 34 felony charges in federal court this past summer.
Grant’s attorney Ann Callis told The Washington Post, “we have no control over what happens with any criminal investigation, but we have an unwavering will to see that Janel gets justice.” Brian Hughes, a spokesperson for Trump’s Linda McMahon-led transition team, declined to comment on the federal investigation of Vince McMahon.
As do her husband and son-in-law, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Linda McMahon owns a significant stake in WWE’s new parent company, TKO Group Holdings. WWE and fellow TKO property UFC routinely hold events overseas, and according to their own reports to shareholders, have to remain in compliance with “extensive U.S. and foreign governmental regulations.” She is also on the Board of Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of his Truth Social platform. Linda McMahon’s attorney says that if her nomination goes through she’ll place her financial interests in a blind trust and resign from all outside positions and board memberships.
In addition to those issues, it’s being asked whether someone who’s probably best known for roles in her family’s on-screen wrestling dramas is qualified to head the Department of Education. That ultimately may not matter if Trump is successful in eliminating the agency, but for now Linda McMahon’s credentials are an issue. In a statement to The Independent, the National Education Association called her “grossly unqualified” for the job, and compared her to Trump’s first Education Secretary, saying, “like Betsy DeVos, McMahon has no background in public schools nor any understanding of what it takes to help every student thrive.” The Association’s president Becky Pringle added:
“During his first term, Donald Trump appointed Betsy DeVos to undermine and ultimately privatize public schools through vouchers. Now, he and Linda McMahon are back at it with their extreme Project 2025 proposal to eliminate the Department of Education, steal resources for our most vulnerable students, increase class sizes, cut job training programs, make higher education more expensive and out of reach for middle class families, take away special education services for disabled students, and put student civil rights protections at risk.”
The NEA has called on the Senate to reject Linda McMahon’s nomination to become Secretary of Education. But even given the above — and numerous other controversies which happened at WWE under her and her family’s watch, like Jimmy Snuka’s involvement in the death of Nancy Argentino, the 1990s steroid trials, and Owen Hart’s death — she is expected to be confirmed given the 53-47 Republican majority in the Senate. Her 2017 nomination to lead the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first presidency was easily confirmed in an 81-19 vote that included many Democratic votes in favor.
