Linda McMahon will go before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee later this morning for her confirmation hearing to be the next secretary of education.

Some are saying this could be the beginning of the end of the Education Department.

President Donald Trump has talked about that.

But former education Secretary Miguel Cardona told News 12 Connecticut at the end of last year that dismantling the department would be a very long process.

McMahon, the longtime Greenwich resident, is expected to face grilling from lawmakers on her views about President Trump's plans to eliminate the Department of Education. Trump stated earlier this month "Linda, I hope you do a great job and put yourself out of a job." McMahon served as Trump's head of the Small Business Administration in Trump's first term and previously spent a year on the Connecticut Board of Education.

Parents, educators, community leaders and elected officials rallied outside the U.S. Capitol Wednesday ahead of McMahon's confirmation hearing.

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"That public education is the backbone of American democracy. It's where all of our people come together to learn and to grow. And our job is not to destroy public education, it is to significantly improve it," said Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

McMahon hasn't commented directly about the president's plan to dismantle the agency since she was tapped to oversee it.