WASHINGTON—President-elect Donald Trump tapped Linda McMahon to serve in his cabinet as Administrator of the Small Business Administration. McMahon, known for co-founding and developing, with her husband Vince, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE, formerly WWF until 2002) into a successful franchise between 1980 and 2009, ran as the Republican candidate for Senate in Connecticut in 2010 against then-State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.
“My America First agenda is going to bring back our jobs and roll back the burdensome regulations that are hurting our middle class workers and small businesses. To help push our agenda forward, I am pleased to nominate Linda McMahon as the head of the Small Business Administration,” said President-elect Trump of McMahon.
“Linda has a tremendous background and is widely recognized as one of the country’s top female executives advising businesses around the globe. She helped grow WWE from a modest 13-person operation to a publicly traded global enterprise with more than 800 employees in offices worldwide. Linda is going to be a phenomenal leader and champion for small businesses and unleash America’s entrepreneurial spirit all across the country,” he said.
“Our small businesses are the largest source of job creation in our country,” said McMahon. “I am honored to join the incredibly impressive economic team that President-elect Trump has assembled to ensure that we promote our country’s small businesses and help them grow and thrive.”
The SBA assists Americans to begin, build and develop businesses through the agency’s network of field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations.
McMahon presently advises global businesses as part of APCO Worldwide’s International Advisory Council and is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Women’s Leadership LIVE, LLC, a company that uses live events and ongoing mentorships to educate and inspire women to launch and expand their own businesses, advance their careers toward executive roles, and pursue opportunities for leadership in public service.
McMahon’s nomination will go to the Senate where one of her biggest former foes, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, will be waiting to vote on her confirmation. The race between McMahon and Blumenthal became intense at one point during a debate between the two when McMahon called out Blumenthal over claims he made about serving in Vietnam.
Blumenthal now wants every Trump nominees to be required to have a recorded vote as opposed to a voice vote that many of Barack Obama nominees received when he first took office on January 20, 2009.
“I wasn’t here when Obama took office. I think there’s a need for recorded votes so that we know how we stand on members in the cabinet who are going to have very serious and significant responsibilities,” Blumenthal said.