In a recent interview, President Joe Biden's Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, claimed to have sidestepped politically charged "culture wars" during his tenure.
However, his advocacy for contentious policies, such as the proposed Title IX amendment that would have permitted men to participate in women's sports and use women's facilities, suggests otherwise.
According to the Daily Caller, Cardona has largely pointed the finger at Republicans for initiating conflicts on educational matters, asserting that his focus has been on student success. Nevertheless, the Biden official has consistently advocated for policies that have not been well-received, and has allegedly targeted parents who resisted indoctrination in schools.
"I'm not going to get distracted by culture wars," Cardona stated in his interview with the Associated Press. "It's nonsense, and I think the people that spew it, they make a fool of themselves. I dont need to help them."
Under Cardona's leadership, the Department of Education (DOE) proposed a contentious change to Title IX rules. This change would have broadened protections against discrimination based on an individual's gender identity. However, the proposed amendment faced numerous legal challenges and was eventually withdrawn by the Biden Administration. A recent poll by Parents Defending Education (PDE) revealed that the majority of parents were against the initiative to allow men into women's spaces.
Cardona has previously declined to comment on whether he believes there are any physical differences between men and women. In 2024, he also commemorated the "transgender day of visibility" and lauded transgender students in a video shared on social media.
"To the many transgender students across the country listening on this day of trans visibility," Cardona said, "we in the Biden-Harris Administration want you to know that we see you, we support you and we celebrate you."
President-elect Donald Trump has been a vocal critic of Biden's attempts to undermine women's sports.
Throughout his term, Cardona has prioritized diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, issuing multiple grants to schools to train a "diverse educator workforce." He has also been implicated in an effort to use the FBI to investigate parents who protested against schools introducing critical race theory and gender ideology into classrooms. It is reported that he urged the National School Boards Association (NSBA) to draft a letter labeling such parents as "domestic terrorists."
The Biden Administration, with Cardona's support, made several attempts to cancel large amounts of student debt. These efforts were repeatedly met with resistance from Republican lawmakers and were ultimately deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Despite this, the administration discovered several loopholes and managed to eliminate a total of $183.6 billion in student loan debt for more than 5 million borrowers.
In July 2024, Cardona was accused of illegally sending a politically charged letter to student loan holders, criticizing Republicans for obstructing efforts to cancel hundreds of billions of dollars of student debt. An AP-NORC poll released in June 2024 revealed that only 39% of Americans believe student debt cancellation is important, while approximately 12.5% of the U.S. population currently owes student loans.
In November, Trump nominated Linda McMahon, former head of the Small Business Administration, to succeed Cardona.
Login