Linda McMahon Could be Confirmed as Secretary of Education as Soon as Next Week

Although many of his nominees were controversial, President Trump has managed to successfully get almost all of them through the Senate confirmation process, often on a totally party-line vote. Linda McMahon, who is Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Education, is going through a confirmation hearing on Feb. 13, which has left some wondering when she might be voted on by the full Senate.

Linda is another controversial nominee in part because of her ties to Vince McMahon and WWE. She's also likely to face questions about Trump's plan to close the Department of Education altogether. Here's what we know about when she might be voted on.

The confirmation vote before the full Senate is not scheduled yet, in part because Linda's nomination will first have to be passed out of the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. If she makes it through that initial committee vote, McMahon's nomination could be heard by the full Senate as early as next week. If her vote goes like previous nominee votes, she will likely be narrowly confirmed on a largely party-line vote.

If Linda is confirmed, she might not actually have a job for all that long, because Trump has repeatedly said that he would like to close the Department of Education.

"I'd like it to be closed immediately," Trump said. "The Department of Education's a big con job."

According to Reuters, the department currently employs 4,200 people and has a budget of more than $250 billion.

It was first created in 1979, and if it were to be closed, that move would have to be approved by Congress, which actually created the department and is the only branch of government that can close an entire wing of the administrative bureaucracy.

Republicans have long been pushing for a more localized approach to education, but the federal government has worked to unify standards across the country and ensure that every state and locality invests an equal amount in student learning.

McMahon is likely to face some tough questions from Democrats both about Trump's plans to shutter the department completely and about his proposals to scrutinize curricula across the country and his harsh stance on transgender teenagers playing sports.

Senate Democrats don't ultimately have the votes to block McMahon's nomination, though, which means that unless she gets defections from Republicans, she is likely to be confirmed.

McMahon's nomination hearing is playing out against the frenetic backdrop of Trump's first month in office, which has included tons of major proclamations as well as a mountain of court cases designed to challenge many of his most aggressive executive orders. Elon Musk also has a huge role inside the government and seems to be infiltrating various government agencies with the goal of eliminating them or drastically changing how they're run.

The outcomes of all of that change, and how much of it actually holds up, remain to be seen.