Senator John Kennedy exposed a massive Department of Education scam during a tense Senate hearing, engaging in a back-and-forth with U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who could not answer basic questions about how over a trillion dollars of Education Department funding had been used.
For context, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) clashed with Education Secretary Linda McMahon during a tense Senate hearing on June 3, 2025, calling out McMahon over the massive amount of money spent by the federal government on the TRIO Programs, totaling to over $1 trillion, which Sen. Kennedy argued was being wasted.
During the hearing, Sen. Kennedy asked Secretary McMahon about the amount of money being spent on TRIO, a Department of Education initiative that is “designed to identify and provide services for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds” and help them attend college.” Sen. Kennedy then confirmed that the amount spent on the program was “$1.858 billion a year.”
Then, the senator asked how long nearly $2 billion had been spent on TRIO, to which the secretary replied, “I’m not sure of the total length of time, but it’s been more than 10 years.” Sen. Kennedy shot back, “So that’s over a trillion dollars we’ve spent on this program. And in this program — this trillion-dollar program — we give money, as I understand it, to colleges and universities to encourage poor kids to go to college. Is that right?”
Clearly uncomfortable, Secretary McMahon told Sen. Kennedy that the TRIO program exists “to provide support for some of those kids who have not yet been exposed to what it takes to get ready to go to college.” Sen. Kennedy replied by asking, “So, to encourage poor kids to go to college?” The secretary simply said, “Yes,” in response.
Building on his point, Sen. Kennedy asked the secretary, “Given that we’ve spent a trillion dollars, how many poor kids — who otherwise wouldn’t have gone to college — have gone to college and graduated?” The secretary had a vague response, saying, “A significant number, I would imagine.” When Sen. Kennedy asked for an exact number, the secretary said, “I don’t know, exactly.”
Next, Sen. Kennedy expressed incredulity that Secretary McMahon did not know how successful the TRIO program had been, saying, “So we’ve spent a trillion dollars. We’ve given this money to universities, and they’re supposed to encourage poor kids to go to college — but we don’t know how many poor kids went to college who otherwise wouldn’t have gone, and graduated?” The secretary responded, “Correct.”
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Then, the secretary explained that the Education Department was “not able to audit” the success of the TRIO program, saying, “There are constraints against the TRIO program for accountability.” Shocked, Sen. Kennedy replied, “So, we’ve spent a trillion bucks. We gave it to colleges. We said, ‘Encourage poor kids to go to college.’ We don’t know how many kids went to college — because you don’t have the authority to audit. How do you know these universities aren’t just using the money to operate, instead of encouraging poor kids to go to college?” The secretary replied, “I’m not sure.”
Watch the exchange:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video