Who Is In Charge of the Education Department Right Now? Few Details Are Out There

Inside Higher Ed

Jessica Blake

January 22, 2025Preview (opens in a new tab)

President Donald Trump tapped a veteran bureaucrat to lead the Education Department until the Senate confirms his appointee Linda McMahon, but he has so far held off on announcing other interim leaders for the agency.

However, that’s not too unusual for the second day of a new administration, policy experts say, and while the department didn’t respond to a request for comment, a spokesperson said more details about the department’s landing team can be expected in the coming days.

The landing team refers to a group of political appointees that don’t require Senate confirmation, take up leadership roles shortly after inauguration and help the new administration get up to speed. Members of the landing team are often also selected to serve as acting officials and fill the role of a nominated senior official until they are confirmed. In addition to the landing team, civil servants or career staffers help to keep the agency running.

So, regardless of who temporarily fills the department’s key roles, higher ed experts say they expect little policy work to get done until the former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO takes the reins, if she is confirmed. The Senate has yet to schedule a hearing for McMahon.

“There’s not really going to be a whole lot that this department can do from a firm policy stance. So we’re expecting just the basic operations to continue,” said Emmanual Guillory, senior director of government relations at the American Council on Education.

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