President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday (November 19, 2024) tapped billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be secretary of the Department of Education, tasked with overseeing the institution Mr. Trump has promised to dismantle. He also appointed Dr. Mehmet Oz, a former television talk show host and heart surgeon, to lead the agency that oversees health insurance programs for millions of older, poor and disabled Americans, and named Wall Street executive Howard Lutnick to headed the Department of Commerce.
Mrs. McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Mr. Trump’s first term from 2017 to 2019 and twice ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut.
Ms. McMahon has served on the Connecticut Board of Education for years since 2009 and has spent a year on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. He appears to be relatively unknown in education circles, although he has expressed support for charter schools and school choice.
“Linda will use her decades of leadership experience, and deep understanding of Education and Business, to empower the next Generation of American Students and Workers, and make America Number One in Education in the World,” Mr. Trump said in a statement.
In the nomination Ms. McMahon, Mr. Trump gave gifts to loyal supporters of his movement who, along with Mr. Lutnick, have also helped lead the transition team. She was with him Tuesday when he attended the launch of SpaceX’s Starship in Texas.
After her time in the Trump administration, Ms. McMahon chairs the board of the America First Policy Institute, a think tank created by Trump supporters and former officials who have been preparing to return to government. Mrs. McMahon has also chaired the pro-Trump America First Action SuperPAC.
She is married to Vince McMahon, who resigned as CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment in 2022 amid the company’s investigation into allegations that she was involved in sexual battery and human trafficking. He also resigned as executive chairman of the board of TKO Group Holdings this January, although he denied the allegations.
If confirmed by the Republican-led Senate, Linda McMahon will be asked to bring the state’s schools and universities into line with Mr. Trump’s educational vision. Mr Trump has pledged to sweep the center to remove what he sees as “left-wing indoctrination” in America’s schools.
Mr. Trump pledged to cut federal funding to “any school that promotes Critical Race Theory, transgender bigotry, and inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content to our children.” He pledged to fight the university’s diversity initiative, saying he would open civil rights investigations and good colleges “up to the amount of funding.”
Mr Oz, who is running an unsuccessful 2022 bid to represent Pennsylvania in the US Senate, has been an outspoken supporter of Mr Trump and in recent days expressed his support for Robert F Kennedy Jr’s nomination for the nation’s top health agency. Department of Health and Human Services.
“Dr. Oz will be a leader in driving Disease Prevention, so that we get the best results in the World for every dollar we spend on Health Care in our Great Country,” said Mr. Trump in a statement. “He will also eliminate waste and fraud in Government Agencies that most expensive in our Country, it is a third of our Nation’s Health spending, and a quarter of the entire National Budget.”
As administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Mr. Oz will report to Mr. Kennedy.
“America needs better research on healthy lifestyle choices from unbiased scientists, and @robertfkennedyjr can help as HHS secretary,” Mr Oz said in an Instagram post last week.
If confirmed by the Senate, Oz will be responsible for the programs — Medicaid, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act — that more than half the state depends on for health insurance.
Medicaid provides nearly free health care coverage to millions of the poorest children and adults in the US, while Medicare provides access to health insurance for older Americans and the disabled. The Affordable Care Act is an Obama-era program that offers health insurance plans to millions of Americans who do not qualify for government-subsidized health insurance, but do not get insurance through their employers.
Mr. Trump has said he wants to overhaul the Affordable Care Act but said he only has a “concept plan” for how to redesign it. During his first term in office, he tried unsuccessfully to eliminate the program. Last month, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson promised that health care reform would be a big part of Mr. Trump’s second-term agenda.
During his campaign for the senate, Mr. Oz promised to expand Medicare Advantage, the privately managed version of Medicare that has grown in popularity but is also a source of widespread fraud.
TV personality Oprah Winfrey helped launch Mr. Oz into fandom and fortune. After years of appearing on his show as a health expert, Mr. Oz got his own talk show that ran for 13 seasons. Mr. Oz has been accused of hawking dubious medical treatments and products on dead TV shows. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, they pressured government officials to make hydroxychloroquine widely available, despite unresolved questions about its safety and effectiveness.
He estimates his net worth to be between $100 million and $315 million, according to federal financial disclosures filed in 2022.
Democratic Senator Patty Murray Washington, president of the chamber pro tempore, said Tuesday in a statement that Mr. Oz, who has described himself as “very pro-life,” was unqualified for the position.
“Dr. Oz is unqualified, pushes alarming pseudoscience, & has extreme anti-abortion views,” he said in a post on X. “CMS is a critical agency & we need serious leadership to protect American health care and reduce costs – not TV. host whose primary qualification is loyalty to Mr. Trump.
Mr. Lutnick, meanwhile, will play a key role in carrying out Mr. Trump’s plan to raise and implement tariffs as commerce secretary, Mr. Trump said. Mr. Lutnick is a cryptocurrency enthusiast and head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald.
Mr. Trump made the announcement on his social media platform, Truth Social. It said Mr. Lutnick “will lead our Tariffs and Trade agenda, with additional direct responsibility for the Office of the United States Trade Representative.”
The nomination would put Mr. Lutnick in charge of a vast array of Cabinet agencies involved in financing new computer chip factories, enforcing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a very important position to interact with the CEO and the wider business community.
An advocate to impose wide tariffs, Mr. Lutnick told CNBC in September that “tariffs are an amazing tool for the President to use – we must protect American workers.” Mr. Trump on the campaign trail proposed a 60% tariff on goods from China – and a tariff of up to 20%. everything else is imported by the United States.
Mainstream economists are generally skeptical of tariffs, viewing them as the most inefficient way for governments to raise money and promote prosperity.
Mr. Lutnick has been considered for treasury secretary, a role that has become the centerpiece of high-profile jockeys in Trump’s world. At the same time, the treasury’s position is closely watched in financial circles, where a disruptive nomination could have immediate negative consequences on the stock market, which Mr Trump is closely watching.
Mr. Lutnick joined Cantor Fitzgerald in 1983 and rose through the ranks to become president and CEO in 1991. He also served as chairman of financial technology firm BGC Group Inc. and commercial real estate services company Newmark Group Inc.
Mr. Lutnick has contributed to Democrats and Republicans in the past, and once appeared on Mr. Trump NBC reality show, “The Apprentice.” He has been part of the main circle of the President-elect, and has shared the stage with Mr. Trump in events in the closing days of his campaign, including a rally in Madison Square Garden.
Published – 20 November 2024 10:49 IST
