Falwell Jr. to lead Trump’s higher ed task force

President Donald Trump has tapped Jerry Falwell Jr. to head a White House task force on higher education reforms. Falwell, president of Liberty University, was one of the first evangelical leaders to support Trump during the campaign. His enthusiastic defense of then-candidate Trump prompted criticism from Liberty students and the wider evangelical community. Late last year, Falwell claimed Trump asked him to serve as Education Secretary but he declined, statements never confirmed by administration officials. Falwell supported Trump’s eventual nominee, Betsy DeVos, a longtime advocate for school choice who has little experience with higher education. During the campaign, Trump said he wanted to reform the nation’s student loan system, which now relies almost exclusively on government backing. In a statement following yesterday’s announcement, Liberty spokesman Len Stevens said Falwell would focus the committee’s work on “overregulation and micromanagement of higher education.”