Unlike other cabinet nominees, Linda McMahon largely was not pressed on Trump’s past statements or controversial positions. | Getty Former wrestling exec McMahon promises to be a 'defender of the little guy' at SBA

Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump’s choice to head the Small Business Administration, cruised through her confirmation hearing before the Senate Small Business Committee Tuesday, offering few specific details about her agenda for the agency but promising to quickly learn all of SBA’s duties and powers.

McMahon, a former professional wrestling executive and twice-failed Senate candidate, said she would be a strong advocate for small businesses, pushing for fewer regulations and a simplified tax code. She walked back her past support for merging the SBA with the Commerce Department, a position she took in her 2012 Senate campaign, easily diffusing any potential problems for her nomination.


Asked by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the committee’s ranking member, about that past position, McMahon responded that at the time, she wasn’t focused on the role of SBA and now had a different opinion. “I am a firm believer that SBA needs to be a standalone agency,” she said. “I’m proud that President Trump has kept it as a cabinet post.”

The bipartisan support for McMahon’s nomination was evident from the start of the hearing when Connecticut’s senators, Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, introduced the 68-year-old co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment. Murphy and Blumenthal are not only both Democrats but McMahon had previously challenged both lawmakers in unsuccessful campaigns for the Senate.

“This visual is going to be a little amusing and surprising to folks in Connecticut who watched the three of us duke it out over two long Senate campaigns,” Murphy said in his statement, before supporting her nomination and commending her work mentoring women and helping women-owned businesses.

Unlike other cabinet nominees, McMahon largely was not pressed on Trump’s past statements or controversial positions, and she did not break from the president in any meaningful way. She sidestepped questions from Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) about climate change and net neutrality, saying she was committed to learning more about both issues and their effect on small businesses. She did not receive any questions about her wealth, or the wealth of Trump’s other cabinet nominees, which include multiple billionaires.

Republicans on the committee encouraged her to prioritize the SBA’s Office of Advocacy, a little known agency that promotes the interests of small businesses to other government agencies and policymakers. GOP lawmakers frequently criticized the Obama administration for its refusal to empower the agency, particularly its perceived unwillingness to push back on regulations that could have a disproportionate impact on small businesses.

“I’ve always been a defender of the little guy and we need someone to go to bat for our small businesses,” she said. “I’m just the girl to do that.”

In her opening statement, McMahon emphasized her experience not just working with small businesses but founding a business of her own, eventually building WWE into an 800-person company with worldwide name recognition. She said she knew how difficult it is to build a business from scratch when budgets are tight and the hours are long. “I remember the early days when every month I had to decide whether I should continue to lease a typewriter or if I could finally afford to buy it,” she added. “Yes, that $12 a month really made a difference in our budget.”

McMahon stepped down as CEO in 2009, devoting her time to her political campaigns and more recently, as the head of a startup called Women’s Leadership LIVE that promotes women entrepreneurship. She initially supported New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie during the Republican primary, criticizing some of Trump’s rhetoric before supporting the GOP nominee during the presidential election.

The hearing was largely devoid of any specific policy details but McMahon did say that her top priority at the agency would be to take a hard look at the SBA’s disaster assistance programs. These programs allow SBA to quickly get cash into the hands of small businesses owners after a disaster strikes. That quick disbursement of money is critical to keeping those businesses operating and reviving local communities. But the programs have come under fire in recent years for failing to distribute money quick enough. Unprompted, McMahon said that she would make improving the disaster assistance programs a top priority. “We have to be ready for disaster relief,” she said. “When our small businesses are put out of business for a while, the economy suffers.”

Recalling McMahon’s answer later in the hearing, Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) said, “I was pleasantly surprised by your response to that question.”