Linda Mcmahon has been an executive for one of the biggest entertainment businesses in the country: World Wrestling Entertainment. When Donald Trump tapped her to run an administration dedicated to helping small businesses, that came as a surprise to many. She breezed through her confirmation, though, unlike other Cabinet nominees, officially taking charge of the SBA on Tuesday morning.
Easy confirmation
The vote to confirm Linda McMahon as the head of the SBA occurred Tuesday morning and was relatively easy in comparison to some of the other Cabinet confirmations, which had led to contentious hearings and Senate sessions.
The former WWE executive was confirmed by an 81 to 19 majority. With national security issues and the resignation of Michael Flynn making waves, everyone in the Senate knew they could use a breather.
The job of the SBA is to help provide small business loans for people to compete with behemoth corporations, as well as to provide aid to small businesses that struggle when disaster or uncertainty strike. Four in five senators believe McMahon is well-suited for the position despite her empty previous record in a similar realm.
Wrestling with history
Some may argue, however, that McMahon does have a track record worthy of the SBA -- just look at her time with the WWE. It was a relatively small business when she started there in 1980, and by the time she left her post as CEO and president of the company, it was the most famous wrestling entity in the world, synonymous with the sport.
Her political career has gone less swimmingly, though. She ran as a Republican against Democrat Richard Blumenthal for a Connecticut Senate seat in 2010, but lost. McMahon tried again in 2012, but this time she fell to another Democrat, Chris Murphy. Her platform included lowering taxes and creating jobs in the state, but people had a hard time looking past her WWE-generated wealth in her attempt to connect with voters. People will soon learn if she'll be faced with similar problems in her role with the SBA.
