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- By Neely Bardwell
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) voted 12-11 along party lines on Thursday to advance Linda McMahon’s nomination for education secretary. Her nomination will be considered by the full U.S. Senate.
During her nomination process, McMahon recently cited Indian boarding schools as an argument for why education should be locally controlled, according to written responses she provided to the Senate.
Indian Boarding Schools represent a deeply troubling chapter in U.S. history, spanning 150 years of forced assimilation that stripped countless Native American children of their culture, language, and identity. Many of these schools were federally operated. McMahon described this history as “a key example” of why education should be managed at the local level rather than by the federal government.
In written answers submitted Tuesday to members of the HELP Committee, McMahon responded to questions senators posed after her confirmation hearing last week. While her responses have not been publicly released, HuffPost obtained a copy of her answers regarding tribal education.
One question asked: “What is your understanding of the events that took place during the Indian Boarding School era?”
McMahon stated that she condemns this period of American history but placed blame on federal officials for the systemic removal and assimilation of Native children.
“I condemn the actions of U.S. government officials who removed Indian children from their homes, against the wills of their parents and families, to force them to attend boarding schools, in many instances in other states,” she wrote. “This is a key example of why local communities should direct education systems, not Washington bureaucrats.”
While many boarding schools were federally operated, religious organizations—particularly Christian and Catholic churches—also played a significant role in running these institutions.
McMahon was also asked about the federal government’s trust responsibility for tribal education. In her response, she incorrectly attributed the oversight of Indian education solely to the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Education, failing to acknowledge the Department of Education’s role.
“The federal government has an obligation to provide appropriate educational facilities to recognized tribes,” McMahon wrote. “While the vast majority of this work is carried out by the Bureau of Indian Education at the Department of the Interior, the Department of Education does maintain grant programs that support tribal education.”
Currently, only about seven percent of Native American students attend Bureau of Indian Education schools, while about 90 percent are enrolled in traditional public schools funded through Department of Education programs.
The White House and the Department of Education did not respond to requests for comment.
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