Republicans praise her business acumen and say she’s a good pick to change the course of American education. Sen. Bill Cassidy, chair of the health and education committee, met with McMahon in January and said she’s “prepared to return power to parents and reform an Education Department that has lost the plot.”

If Linda McMahon is confirmed as education secretary, President Donald Trump has said he wants the former wrestling executive to “put herself out of a job.”

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he wanted the federal Education Department to be closed immediately. Trump had said last week he would like to close the Department of Education using an executive order but acknowledged he would need buy-ins from Congress and teachers' unions to fulfill his campaign pledge to do so.