Summer Lee grills U.S. Education secretary on DEI policies

U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, grilled Education Secretary Linda McMahon over her department’s DEI policies and accused the Trump administration of trying to rewrite history on Wednesday during a congressional hearing.

During a tense exchange, McMahon refused to give a “yes” or “no” answer when asked if teaching students that former President Joe Biden won the 2020 election was an example of an “illegal DEI.”

“I think our studies should all be taught accurately,” McMahon said in testimony before the House Education and Workforce Committee.

McMahon stuck with that answer as Lee pressed her several times for a “yes” or “no” response, prompting an incredulous Lee to say, “I don’t know why you are incapable of answering a question.”

McMahon’s response: “I did answer the question. I’m just not giving you the answer you want.”

Rep. Summer Lee clashed with Secretary of Education Linda McMahon after she was asked if teaching students about former President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win amounts to “illegal DEI.” McMahon responded, "I think I have said we should teach accurately." pic.twitter.com/eIaqFpqpuL

— Newsweek (@Newsweek) June 4, 2025

The congressional committee held Wednesday’s hearing to examine the policies and priorities of the Education Department, which McMahon has led since being confirmed by the U.S. Senate in early March.

Before she took the helm, the Trump administration began taking steps to eliminate from schools Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives that it deemed divisive, discriminatory and hateful.

“This administration has undoubtedly revived the culture of racism we haven’t seen since the Jim Crow era,” Lee said in her opening remarks at the congressional hearing.

“The call for removing (DEI measures) from schools in favor of ‘traditional American values’ is indistinguishable from the post-Civil War South advocating to rewrite history with the ‘Lost Cause’ narrative,” Lee said, referring to interpretations that attempted to obscure or ignore the role of slavery in causing the war and to portray the Confederates as just.

When Lee began questioning McMahon, she followed up on a question posed to the Education secretary during her confirmation hearing — whether an African American history class violated the administration’s position on DEI.

“I do not think that African studies or Middle East studies or Chinese studies are part of DEI if they are taught as part of the total history package. If you’re given the facts on both sides, of course, they’re not DEI,” McMahon said.

“I don’t know what both sides of African American history would be,” Lee responded.

“It would be impossible to teach African history and, say, European history at the same time,” the congresswoman added. “Do you not agree that it makes sense there would be separate courses for these courses of study? We do it with different types of literature courses and different types of music courses … one wouldn’t learn about Baroque music and necessarily also have to learn about African drumming at the same time, right? We can separate those courses.”

“Yes, we can,” McMahon said. “And, I think, just as we teach U.S. history as a separate course.”

Lee also asked if a lesson plan on the Tulsa Race Massacre would be an “illegal DEI.” After McMahon told Lee she’d “have to get back to you on that,” Lee asked, “Do you know what the Tulsa Race Massacre is?”

“I’d like to look into it more and get back to you on it,” McMahon replied.

Considered one of the worst acts of racial violence in U.S. history, violent white mobs descended upon Tulsa’s predominantly Black Greenwood District in 1921 and began attacking residents and burning buildings. The estimated death toll ranged from several dozen to as many as 300, while hundreds more people were injured and thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed, according to accounts.

In her second term, Lee’s congressional district includes Pittsburgh and suburbs in eastern and southern Allegheny County, as well as communities in western Westmoreland County.