Education Secretary Linda McMahon has a hard time with simple math when attempting to sum up proposed budget reductions

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon received a mathematics lesson on Tuesday at a Senate hearing when Senator Jack Reed explained that $1.5 times 10 is not "over a trillion dollars" but rather $15 billion.

Seated before the appropriations subcommittee dealing with education, McMahon nodded her head in agreement as Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana inaccurately stated that the U.S. spends "$1,580,000" annually on federal grant programs, called TRIO and GEAR UP, and that after 10 years that is "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 good mathematician, but I believe you said trillion dollars? I think 1.5 billion times 10 is 15 billion, a little short of a trillion dollars," Reed explained.

McMahon answered, "I believe the budget reduces by $1.2 billion to TRIO."

"Alright, $1.2 billion that would be $12 billion, not a trillion dollars," Reed answered.

"Alright," McMahon said.

The mathematics mistake was included in McMahon's testimony regarding President Donald Trump's 2026 budget plan, which features drastic reductions to the Department of Education – significantly affecting education grants like TRIO or GEAR UP.

The Independent has requested a comment from the Department of Education.

TRIO, a set of federal programs made up of several different grants, are among the Department of Education's biggest investments to help low-income or first-generation college students or those with disabilities make it through the academic pipeline. The Department of Education funded the program $1.191 billion in 2024.

GEAR UP, a federal grant, helps low-income students getting ready to enter postsecondary school. The Department of Education funded the program $388 million in 2024.

But under Trump's so-called "skinny budget," effectively all of the TRIO and GEAR UP grants would be eliminated. It's part of his attempts to close the Education Department.

At the hearing, Maine Senator Susan Collins raised the alarm over the cuts to TRIO, stating that she had "seen the lives of countless first-generation and low-income students, not only in Maine, but around the country… transformed by the TRIO program.

Education advocacy organizations like the Council for Opportunity in Education and the Institute for College Access & Success have denounced the budget proposal, stating it would hurt millions of students – especially those from low-income families.

The Independent has never had a parochial outlook. Established on a solid platform of excellent foreign reporting and analysis, The Independent now has a reach that was unheard of when it was founded as a rebel contender in the British media. For the first time since the Second World War ended, and globally, pluralism, reason, a humanitarian and progressive agenda, and internationalism – Independent principles – are being challenged. But we, The Independent, keep on expanding.