Politics

Watch: R.I. lawmaker corrects $985 billion math error by GOP senator, Ed. Dept. secretary

“That's a little bit off from a trillion dollars,” Sen. Jack Reed said. The difference between $1 trillion and $15 billion is $985 billion.

FILE - In this May. 5, 2020, file photo, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., listens during a Senate Intelligence Committee nomination hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

By Molly Farrar

June 5, 2025

4 minutes to read

Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed corrected President Donald Trump’s education secretary for overshooting the cost of a federal program she wants to gut by $985 billion.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon, a former professional wrestling executive, was questioned by Louisiana Senator John Kennedy about federal funding of TRIO and its sister program GEAR UP, a federal program that provides services to help disadvantaged students to afford college.

The questioning came during the Senate budget hearing Tuesday, marking another in a string of embarrassing moments for the secretary, including when she referred to “AI” as “A1” instead of artificial intelligence,

With confirmation from McMahon, Kennedy confirmed that the government spends $1.58 billion a year on the program. While the pair didn’t know how long the program had been funded, McMahon confirmed it had been going on at least a decade. The program was created in 1964.

“Over a trillion dollars we spent on this program,” Kennedy lamented, noting that the government does not have the ability to audit to see “how many poor kids” went to college because of the program.

Questioning then turned to Reed, who wasn’t going to let the Louisiana lawmaker and the education secretary throw around such a large figure.

“I’m not a great mathematician, but I think you were talking about a trillion dollars,” he said. “I believe $1.5 billion times ten is $15 billion.

“That’s a little bit off from a trillion dollars,” he said, with some sarcasm. The difference between $1 trillion and $15 billion is $985 billion.

“You’re shrinking educational opportunities in the United States for a whole generation and more and also, shrinking our ability to compete internationally and globally,” Reed said.

McMahon then said that the budget cut would actually amount to $1.2 billion, meaning it would be $12 billion over 10 years.

“Okay,” McMahon replied when she was corrected on the math.

Reed then went on to say that McMahon could request an audit of the TRIO program through legislative action “if that’s what the problem is.” He said the Department of Education’s plan to effectively eliminate the program is “surrendering,” while McMahon called it “responsible.”

“We have this crisis in education and literacy, all these factors. What we’re going to do is pull back, let the states do it,” Reed said.

“No, we’ll spend it more responsibly,” McMahon said.

“I doubt it very seriously,” Reed said.

Reed wasn’t the only New England senator protesting planned cuts to TRIO. Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, wore a pin to support the programs.

“From my experience in Maine, I have seen the lives of countless first-generation and low-income students, not only in Maine, but across the country, who will often face barriers to accessing a college education, changed by the TRIO program,” she said.