Secretary of Education Linda McMahon was given a math lesson during a Senate hearing on Tuesday when Senator Jack Reed pointed out that $1.5 multiplied by 10 is not “over a trillion dollars” but actually $15 billion.
Sitting before the appropriations subcommittee that focuses on education, McMahon nodded her head along as Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana mistakenly claimed that the U.S. spends “$1,580,000” on federal grant programs, known as TRIO and GEAR UP, per year and that after 10 years, that adds up to be “over a trillion dollars.”
The U.S. actually spends $1.58 billion per year on the programs, which does not add up to more than a trillion after 10 years. But, McMahon did not correct Kennedy’s math error.
However, Reed, the senator from Rhode Island, did.
“I’m not a great mathematician, but I think you were talking about a trillion dollars? I believe $1.5 billion times 10 is $15 billion, that’s a little bit off from a trillion dollars,” Reed said.
McMahon responded, “I think the budget cuts $1.2 billion for TRIO.”
“Well, $1.2 billion that would be $12 billion, not a trillion dollars,” Reed replied.
“Ok,” McMahon said.
The math blunder was part of McMahon’s testimony about President Donald Trump’s 2026 budget proposal, which includes sweeping cuts to the Department of Education – drastically impacting education grants such as TRIO or GEAR UP.
The Independent has asked the Department of Education for comment.
TRIO, a federal program comprised of various grants, are some of the Education Department’s largest investments aimed at assisting low-income or first-generation college students or individuals with disabilities to advance through the academic pipeline. In 2024, the Education Department provided $1.191 billion for the program.
GEAR UP, a federal grant program, assists low-income students preparing to enter postsecondary education. In 2024, the Education Department provided $388 million for the program.
But under Trump’s proposed “skinny budget,” essentially all of the TRIO and GEAR UP grants would be eliminated. It’s part of his efforts to shutter the Education Department.
During the hearing, Senator Susan Collins of Maine aired concerns about the cuts to TRIO, saying she had “seen the lives of countless first-generation and low-income students, not only in Maine, but across the country… changed by the TRIO program.”
Education advocacy groups such as the Council for Opportunity in Education and the Institute for College Access & Success have condemned the proposed budget, saying it would negatively impact millions of students – particularly those of low-income households.
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