President-elect Donald Trump is moving swiftly to staff his senior team and Cabinet positions, with news already broken about high-profile choices for , , and .
The brisk pace is fueling even more curiosity, speculation, and betting about who Trump may choose to be his education secretary and lead an agency that he has pledged to get rid of.
Trump鈥檚 secretary will likely support slimming down if not dismantling the Education Department; expanding school choice; slashing K-12 spending; and attacking school districts鈥� diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
Plenty of GOP lawmakers, state education chiefs, and advocates could get on board with that agenda. But a future secretary鈥檚 ability to communicate and champion Trump鈥檚 education policies may help determine their success.
Education Week reported on a robust list of possibilities before Trump鈥檚 decisive win, and now we鈥檙e back with an updated look at potential contenders for the job of U.S. Secretary of Education.
Who may be on the short list for Education Secretary?
We鈥檒l start with Cade Brumley, the state superintendent in Louisiana who鈥檚 been on the list of possibilities since well before the election and remains in play, according to GOP sources.
During his four-year tenure in Louisiana, he鈥檚 pushed for what he describes as a to education, focusing on math, reading, and science rather than cultural issues, and for expanding school choice.
He鈥檚 also worked to stop identifying schools for intervention based on student suspensions and to make it easier for teachers to remove disruptive students from their classrooms.
And he might have a relatively easy time getting through a Senate confirmation process. The incoming chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee is Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Brumley鈥檚 home state of Louisiana.
Cassidy, who will need to shepherd any education secretary through the confirmation process, was one of only seven GOP senators to vote to impeach Trump after the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump encouraged a violent mob to disrupt the congressional certification of President Joe Biden鈥檚 election victory.
A pragmatic lawmaker who has supported programs to improve educational outcomes for children with dyslexia, Cassidy may not be apt to embrace a MAGA firebrand. Two moderate GOP senators鈥擲usan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska鈥攎ight also be disinclined to support picks who are strongly associated with the culture wars in schools.
Collins and Murkowski voted against Trump鈥檚 first education secretary, Betsy DeVos, prompting then-vice-president Mike Pence to cast a history-making tie-breaking vote in her favor.
Those political hurdles might present a roadblock for two other hopefuls鈥�Tiffany Justice, the co-founder of Moms for Liberty and Ryan Walters, the state superintendent in Oklahoma who seems to be making the most overt pitch for the gig.
Justice, who interviewed Trump on stage at her group鈥檚 annual convention in August, told Education Week recently she鈥檇 be 鈥渉onored to serve鈥� as his education secretary鈥攐r in another role in a potential second Trump term. But she also said Brumley, the Louisiana schools chief, would be a good choice.
Walters, a , was elected to the position of superintendent of public instruction in 2022. Before that, he served as the Sooner State鈥檚 secretary of education in Gov. Kevin Stitt鈥檚 Cabinet.
Walters, who endorsed Trump, has developed a national reputation as one of the right鈥檚 most vigorous critics of federal 鈥渙verreach鈥� in schools and flaws in how they teach.
鈥淚鈥檓 happy to help President Trump in any way that I can,鈥� Walters told Education Week in response to a question about his interest in the secretary gig.
Walters announced Nov. 11 that he is to 鈥渙versee federal public education policy changes that are anticipated under the incoming Trump Administration.鈥� And he sent highlighting his vigorous support for Trump鈥檚 education policy priorities.
Of course, Trump has already , insisting that the yet-to-be named Republican majority leader of the Senate agree to such a move. That would allow him to make appointments and bypass Senate confirmation.
Is Betsy DeVos in the running for education secretary? Whom would she recommend?
DeVos resigned early from Trump鈥檚 cabinet on Jan. 7, 2021, citing the president鈥檚 role in inciting a mob to storm the U.S. Capitol and disrupt its certification of Biden鈥檚 victory.
But in an exclusive interview with Education Week after Trump鈥檚 victory, she said would be 鈥渧ery open鈥� to talking with the president-elect about serving in his second administration.
鈥淚 have been really clear about what I think needs to be the agenda, which is to get the federal tax credit passed and to de-power the Department of Education. If President-elect Trump wanted to talk to me, I would be very open to talking,鈥� DeVos said in the EdWeek interview. 鈥淏ut I think there鈥檚 also a lot of folks [who could do the job well].
鈥淚 think about an ideal secretary of education, what their experience might be. A governor who鈥檚 led in their state on education reform issues,鈥� DeVos continued. 鈥淭hat would be a very good profile. Someone who could do the things that need to be done, could come in and hit the ground running. The federal Department of Education is a labyrinth, a maze, and I think someone who has accomplished real reforms on a state level would be really fit and suitable for that position.鈥�
GOP education sources have shared some names of governors and former governors they could see as a good fit for the job, including Bobby Jindal, the former Louisiana governor who also served on the education committee when he was in Congress; Doug Ducey, the former governor of Arizona and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump鈥檚 former communications director and current Arkansas governor. (It鈥檚 unclear if any of them have jumped from the wishlist to the transition team鈥檚 shortlist, however.)
Glenn Youngkin, the Virginia governor whose election in 2021 was largely attributed to galvanizing voters around education issues, especially the role of parents鈥� rights following pandemic school closures, has signaled that he鈥檚 not interested right now. , Youngkin said he鈥檚 committed to finishing his term as governor, which concludes in 2026.
Would Trump appoint a state superintendent to be his education secretary?
Two other potential state superintendents could be in the mix: South Carolina鈥檚 Ellen Weaver, an elected Republican, and Florida鈥檚 Manny D铆az Jr.
Both support expanding school choice and have opposed what they perceive as 鈥渨oke ideology鈥� in schools, including rejecting the College Board鈥檚 AP African American studies course.
One potential pitfall for D铆az: He was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who ran against Trump for the GOP nomination.
Another Floridian鈥檚 name has also surfaced as a possible Trump education secretary: U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, a . (The nod ultimately went to Ohio Sen. JD Vance.)
Donalds鈥� wife, Erika Donalds, .
Will Trump consider an education secretary from higher education?
Some GOP education insiders are urging Trump to eschew the K-12 world altogether and choose someone with a postsecondary background as his next education secretary, former Republican congressional aides said.
After all, there are plenty of big higher education issues for the next secretary to sink their policy teeth into, including righting the troubled rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, dealing with student lending programs, and moving forward with an aggressive campaign to revamp accreditation in higher education, a long-time GOP priority.
And Trump made retooling career-technical education鈥攁 rare bipartisan area these days鈥�a rhetorical focus, if not a policy priority, in his first term.
Meanwhile, the big K-12 GOP agenda items鈥攁bolishing the Education Department and shifting federal funding to private schools in a big way鈥攚ould all run straight into the Senate鈥檚 legislative filibuster, which takes 60 votes to overcome.
Finally, we can rule out Vivek Ramaswamy, whom Trump namechecked at a campaign rally in October as someone who could oversee the dismantling of the Education Department. On Nov. 12, Trump announced that Ramaswamy and Elon Musk would lead a new 鈥淒epartment of Government Efficiency鈥� in his new administration.
During his brief presidential run, Ramaswamy pledged to abolish the education department and enhance civics education.
