The Senate has overwhelmingly confirmed Linda McMahon, cofounder and former CEO of TV wrestling empire WWE, as the new administrator of the Small Business Administration, a cabinet-level post in the Donald Trump Administration. The vote was 81 to 19.
"I congratulate Linda and her family on her well-deserved confirmation as SBA Administrator,” said House Small Business Committee chairman Steve Chabot (R-Ohio). “Throughout the confirmation process, she demonstrated why she will be a dynamic and effective leader for the SBA."
McMahon was approved unanimously by the Senate Small Business Committee (the Senate handled confirmation hearings) Jan. 31.
At her Jan. 24 hearing, McMahon told the panel that as an entrepreneur, she shared the experiences of small business owners, “the engines of our national economy,” while putting food on the table or braces on their children’s teeth.
Then President-elect Trump said after picking her back in December: "Linda has a tremendous background and is widely recognized as one of the country’s top female executives advising businesses around the globe. She helped grow WWE from a modest 13-person operation to a publicly traded global enterprise with more than 800 employees in offices worldwide. Linda is going to be a phenomenal leader and champion for small businesses and unleash America's entrepreneurial spirit all across the country."
Related: Trump Taps McMahon for SBA
White House press secretary, then transition spokesman, Sean Spicer said back in December that Mahon brings "firsthand knowledge about what it takes to grow a successful small business" and as head of SBA "will make sure America's entrepreneurs have access to the capitol and resources they need to grow."
He said by making the SBA administrator a Cabinet-level position and having "a leader of McMahon's stature" leading the agency, the President-elect was sending a "clear signal to small businesses and entrepreneurs and workers that their interests were of the highest importance."
He pointed out that as former CEO and cofounder of World Wrestling Entertainment, she helped grow that small business from a 13-person staff to a publicly traded global business with more than 800 employees.
Spicer called her one of the country's top female executives.
*Image used via Flickr and a CC BY-SA 2.0 license. The original image was cropped to 750x422 pixels.
