This week, President-elect Donald Trump picked Linda McMahon, a former WWE executive, as his Education Secretary.
The Department of Education is one of the many cabinet-level government agencies that Project 2025, the ultra-conservative wish list put forth by the Heritage Foundation, wants to eliminate.
While the Trump campaign denied links to Project 2025, McMahon once steered a million dollars to the think tank behind it.
In 2020, America First Works, which McMahon chaired at the time, donated $994,000 to Heritage Action for America, the sister organization to the Heritage Foundation, which published Project 2025, according to IRS documents hosted by the Center for Public Integrity.
While Project 2025’s loftiest goals initially seemed unattainable, Trump is staffing his administration with people who have close ties to the agenda.
In education, Project 2025’s top concern is “woke propaganda” being taught to kids. The way to combat it? Eliminating the Department of Education entirely.
“Federal education should be limited and, ultimately, the Federal Department of Education should be eliminated,” its pledge reads.
One of the Department of Education’s main roles is administering federal funding appropriated by Congress to K-12 schools and managing federal student loan and financial aid programs.
Abolishing the department would disrupt programs such as Title I, which helps children from low-income families, and the IDEA program, which provides funding for teaching children with disabilities.
However, while Project 2025 exploded into the public consciousness recently, the Heritage Foundation has long lobbied against the Department of Education, including while the money came from America First Works.
Each year, the Heritage Foundation releases its recommendations for the government.
It’s been extremely vocal about banning critical race theory in schools. As part of a series of “Index of Dependence” reports published in 2010, Heritage highlighted the need to dramatically reduce the size and scope of the Department of Education.
In 2020, around the time of the donation, a Heritage Foundation report said the Department of Education had run its course and needed to be “devolved.”
Heritage Action for America is a conservative advocacy organization founded in 2010.
“Armed with the research and policies of The Heritage Foundation,” its website states, “Our mission is to fight for conservative policies in Washington, D.C.”
It provides toolkits to protest Department of Education policies on hot-button issues like trans women in school sports.
Heritage Action usually keeps its donors anonymous but revealed a $500,000 donation from the Koch Brothers in 2013.
Some conservatives have expressed confusion over McMahon’s nomination, due to her lack of education policy or practice. Others noted the job comes following a years-long allyship with Trump. McMahon previously served as his Small Business Administrator.
America First Works pushes policies aligned with Trump, noting its mission is “to rein in government excess, stop an unregulated bureaucracy, and put an end to the erosion of our liberty and security by lifelong bureaucrats.”
During McMahon’s time as America First chair, the organization also donated to groups that later challenged the 2020 election.
In 2020, America First Works donated $100,000 to Moms for America. Kim Fletcher, President and Founder of Moms for America, was interviewed by the January 6 Select Committee.
In 2019, America First Policies contributed $25,000 to Women for America First. Women for America First started the Facebook group “Stop the Steal” in November 2020 and organized the March For Trump rally on Jan. 6, 2021, which preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Another recipient of donations from America First Works is the BLEXIT Foundation, a conservative campaign run by Candace Owens to encourage African Americans to quit the Democratic party. The foundation received $350,000 in donations.
America First Works is the right-wing advocacy arm of America First Policies, a non-profit organization founded to support Trump’s policy agenda in 2017. In 2022, America First Works brought in $2.2 million in revenue.
According to IRS documents, McMahon served as chair in 2019 and 2020 before transitioning to a board member. In 2021 conservative donor Tim Dunn was listed as chair.
America First Policies is known as a “dark money” group, meaning it can spend money on campaigns without disclosing who their donors are.
In policy documents, America First Policies has decried “unnecessary federal oversight” and has aimed to promote “traditional education.”
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