A congressional hearing turned contentious this week when Representative Greg Casar (D-TX) pressed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to compare the cost of a proposed billion-dollar White House ballroom project against what that same money could mean for America's public schools.
Rep. Casar walked Sec. McMahon through the first priorities: a federally subsidized school lunch costs about $4.60 through the USDA, and the average public school teacher earns roughly $64,000 a year. Then, he zeroed in.
"Can you tell us how much Congress is being asked to vote on next week for President Trump's ballroom?" Casar asked.
McMahon said she didn't know the figure. Casar supplied it: one billion dollars.
He asked her to calculate how many school lunches that billion could cover. Instead of engaging with the math, McMahon pushed back on the premise, saying it was her understanding that "taxpayer dollars will not be used to build the ballroom," and that the project would rely on private donations.
Recent Concerns
Casar was prepared as he entered into the congressional record an NBC News article showing that even some Republicans had raised concerns about a $1 billion line item appearing in a party-line GOP bill.
"We are voting on a billion dollars in taxpayer dollars in addition to those private donations," he added.
He laid out the numbers himself explaining that billion dollars could fund more than 217 million school lunches, enough to feed over a million children for an entire school year, or cover the salaries of 15,000 new teachers, or fund the Office of Civil Rights seven times over.
Casar then close with a direct question, asking McMahon which investment she believed would do more for the country.
"I think those are incredibly weird comparisons," McMahon replied.
McMahon's answer did little to resolve the tension in the room, and arguably did more to fuel the debate than end it.
