'Should be removed': Democratic senators ramp up calls to impeach Education Secretary Linda McMahon
She says she's following Trump's mandate to dismantle her department.
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she → remove → department
Senate Democrats are ramping up calls to impeach Education Secretary Linda McMahon and for an inspector general's investigation over her efforts to dismantle the agency she leads.
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she → ramp → agency
She is the second Cabinet secretary that has become the subject of potential impeachment in as many days.
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that → become → days
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie on Tuesday introduced articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
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Massie → introduce → Hegseth
"Secretary McMahon is unlawfully trying to eliminate the Department of Education, and in doing so, she's costing taxpayers untold amounts of money and other resources," Sen. Angela Alsobrooks said.
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Alsobrooks → try → money
President Donald Trump campaigned on closing the Department of Education and tapped McMahon, 77, with putting herself out of a job.
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Trump → campaign → job
Just weeks into his second term he signed an executive order charging McMahon with returning educational authority to the states.
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he → sign → states
McMahon is following through on what she calls her final mission: to abolish the agency completely.
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she → follow → agency
In 18 months as secretary, McMahon has made a series of changes to gut the department, including firing over more than 40% of the agency's staff, closing regional divisions of the agency and offloading core responsibilities to other federal departments through interagency agreements.
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McMahon → make → agreements
The secretary has said she believes she has broad authority to move the services, arguing that the interagency agreements are a tool that the agency has used more than 200 times under multiple administrations.
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agency → say → administrations
McMahon and several members of the president's Cabinet have been urging Congress to codify the changes that they stress will restore excellence in education.
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they → urge → education
During a rally on Capitol Hill with Alsobrooks, union leaders, House lawmakers and education advocates, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland, noted that McMahon's changes have harmed students, the federal employees that she oversees and have resulted in a direct attack on public education.
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she → note → education
"Someone who's in the process of doing that has no business being the secretary of Education," Van Hollen told ABC News.
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Hollen → do → News
"So why is she secretary of Education?" Van Hollen asked.
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Hollen → ask → Education
"She should be removed."
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She → remove → ?
Alsobrooks, who has also called for Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to be impeached for his decisions she says have done "calculable harm" to Americans, told ABC News that Trump's Cabinet members should be "sent packing" as quickly as possible.
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members → call → News
"Simply put: not only is Linda McMahon historically bad at her job, but she's interfering with the ability of other people to do their jobs and for all the students to be able to access a high-quality education, which is so important, she's interrupting that as well," Alsobrooks said.
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Alsobrooks → put → that
Asked for a response, White House assistant press secretary Liz Huston said, "Secretary McMahon is successfully returning education back to the states where it belongs, restoring fairness, merit, and safety in our schools, and putting the academic needs of students first.
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it → ask → students
Secretary McMahon's tenacity, decades of world-class business experience, and proven outsider approach will ensure that we have the best education system in the world that develops American students into future leaders."
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that → prove → leaders
In the lower chamber, multiple lawmakers have submitted articles of impeachment against Trump officials.
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lawmakers → submit → officials
The chorus of calls for Cabinet officials to exit office this week come after Suzanne Bonamici introduced articles of impeachment for McMahon this summer.
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Bonamici → exit → McMahon
Democrats are hoping to reverse Trump administration changes if they can take back the House and Senate in the next Congress, as the Republican-controlled chambers refuse to entertain impeachment resolutions.
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chambers → hop → resolutions
Bonamici said families deserve a secretary who will "advocate for" and "protect" them.
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who → say → them
"Linda McMahon is doing the opposite," she said.
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she → do → opposite
It would take an act of Congress and 60 Senate votes to overcome a Democratic filibuster to shutter the agency.
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It → take → agency
But McMahon argues that the nation's education system needs a hard reset and decisions should be made at the local level.
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decisions → argue → level
Conservatives laud her department for funding school-choice programs and enforcing parental rights across the country.
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Conservatives → laud → country
Senior House Education and Workforce Committee member Mark Takano, D-Calif., contends that students with disabilities and those from marginalized backgrounds are suffering due to mental health grant cuts and changes to civil rights services under McMahon.
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students → contend → McMahon
"The best thing that Education Secretary Linda McMahon can do for our students is to resign," Takano said.
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Takano → do → students
"She needs to leave, and if she won't leave we need to impeach her," he said.
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he → need → her
Meanwhile, the lawmakers, three former Education secretaries and the largest federal employee union are calling for an inspector general investigation into the mass firings made at the department last year.
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lawmakers → call → department
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), and Arne Duncan, John B. King, Jr., and Miguel Cardona, the secretaries of Education under Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, respectively, oppose the agency restructuring under McMahon.
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Federation → oppose → McMahon
They're requesting the department's independent watchdog investigates the firing of hundreds of the agency's staff, the cost of those cuts and costs of hiring new employees to do their jobs.
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watchdog → request → jobs
McMahon has acknowledged the department had to hire more people to backfill or reinstate some of those who were fired.
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who → acknowledge → those
McMahon's moves have "sown chaos" on tens of millions of students and families, AFGE Local 252 President Rachel Gittleman said.
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Gittleman → sow → students
"We need a full picture of the fraud, waste and abuse carried out by this administration as they continue to play politics rather than doing their jobs to serve the American people," Gittleman said.
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Gittleman → need → people
Asked for reaction about the calls for impeachment and a possible IG investigation, a Department of Education spokesperson accused the previous secretaries of failed policies, arguing that the Trump administration is trying to reform "broken" bureaucracy in Washington.
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administration → ask → Washington
"The Department of Education's reduction in force (RIF) was implemented carefully and in compliance with all applicable regulations and laws," the spokesperson wrote in a statement to ABC News.
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spokesperson → implement → News
"We will continue our work to return education to the states and improve outcomes for our nation's students," the spokesperson wrote.
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spokesperson → continue → students
McMahon did not comment, but in a post on X reacting to Bonamici's impeachment effort, she said, "It speaks volumes that House Democrats think an impeachable offense is working to improve student outcomes and reduce the federal bureaucracy.
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offense → comment → bureaucracy
…and 1 more, not listed.
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