Meet the formidable Linda McMahon, the former President and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (“WWE”) and President-elect Donald Trump’s selection to serve as the cabinet-level Administrator of the Small Business Administration (“SBA”), the agency that provides support to American entrepreneurs and small businesses.
McMahon is the co-founder, along with her husband, Vince McMahon, of the professional wrestling franchise WWE, for which she served as president from 1993 to 1997, and then as CEO from 1997 until 2009. In his statement, Trump stated that McMahon “helped grow WWE from a modest 13-person operation to a publicly traded global enterprise with more than 800 employees in offices worldwide.”
After stepping down from WWE, she unsuccessfully ran for United States Senate in Connecticut in 2010 and 2012. Most recently, McMahon has been a vocal champion for issues relating to working women, co-founding Women’s Leadership LIVE, whose mission is to “educate, inspire, and empower women to stand out as catalysts for change and to build a world where women obtaining and exercising power is both expected and commonplace.”
“Linda has a tremendous background and is widely recognized as one of the country’s top female executives advising businesses around the globe,” Trump said in a statement. He added, “Linda is going to be a phenomenal leader and champion for small businesses and unleash America’s entrepreneurial spirit all across the country,” characterizing his nominee as one who will be key to helping advance his America First agenda as it relates to small businesses.
Despite having supported a proposal made by President Obama in 2012 to revamp the SBA by merging the Commerce department, the Small Business Administration, the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the Trade and Development Agency into one entity, McMahon ran both of her past failed Senate campaigns on themes relating to job creation, providing a glimpse of her potential priorities as the incoming SBA Administrator. She has advocated for a “freeze” on the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, arguing for the need to “amend the regulations to make sure business growth is not obstructed and lending to Connecticut’s small businesses is trouble-free.” She has also supported lowering business tax rates and allowing businesses to deduct 100% of capital expenses. In addition, given her work with Women’s Leadership LIVE and other women’s business leadership initiatives, it is expected that she will continue to advance efforts to support minority-owned and women-owned businesses in her new position.
In response to the announcement, House Small Business Committee Chairman Steve Chabot (R-OH) stated that McMahon was “an excellent choice by President-elect Trump to lead the SBA as administrator,” adding that he looked “forward to working with her and the new administration to roll back burdensome regulations and increase access to capital for America’s 28 million small businesses.” Reaction from the Democrat side of the aisle, however, was mixed. Representative Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), the top Democrat on the Small Business Committee expressed skepticism at the announcement, saying, “The appointment to head this agency should be a leader with wisdom and knowledge, not a celebrity with a knack for entertainment. I hope Ms. McMahon is a quick study, as strengthening SBA and ensuring its efficient operation will be vital to our nation’s long-term prosperity.”
Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), McMahon’s one-time rival who defeated her in the 2012 Connecticut Senate race, though, praised McMahon, saying “She’s unquestionably qualified for this job. She turned a small business into a big, multinational business, which is what a lot of small businesses want to become.”
No date has yet been set for McMahon’s confirmation hearing.
