Linda McMahon testifies before the Senate Health, Education, and Labor Committee during a nomination hearing as Secretary of Education in Washington, DC, USA, on Feb. 13, 2025.
McMahon said that she would present a plan for downsizing the department that Republican senators would be able to get on board with. She said that while there were areas of the DOE that could be eliminated, states would still receive federal funding for schools. Project 2025 has laid out a plan for moving the core responsibilities of the DOE – like civil rights enforcement, student loans, and research – to other federal agencies in order to dismantle the department without fully eliminating it, a step that would require congressional approval.
Conservatives have sought to get rid of the DOE since it was created in 1979, arguing that educational decisions should be made by the states alone. The department doesn’t control curriculums or teachers, but it does provide outsized financial support for low-income areas and helps cover the higher costs of educating students with greater needs.
Meanwhile, the Senate officially confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary in a largely party-line vote on Thursday. All Democrats opposed his nomination, while all Republicans supported it, except for Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell. McConnell, who survived polio as a child, broke with his party due to Kennedy’s anti-vaccine stance.In this episode of GZERO Europe, Carl Bildt considers what the collapse of the joint French-German-Spanish fighter aircraft project means for European defense.
Think you know what's going on around the world? Here's your chance to prove it.
In this episode of GZERO Europe, Carl Bildt reflects on how Russia's war in Ukraine has lasted longer than World War I and the role an underachieving military campaign and international politics have played in putting pressure on Putin.
The ECB raised interest rates for the first time since 2023, becoming the first G7 central bank to act against inflation driven by the war in Iran. With the Bank of Japan poised to follow suit, pressure mounts on the US Federal Reserve to respond.