Education Secretary Linda McMahon is spending $43,000 on furniture as she looks to close the Education Department, The New York Times reported. In a report by Michael C. Bender, the Times said McMahon stated that her old furniture "cannot be configurationally or aesthetically integrated" into her new office space.

The Guardian separately reported that McMahon, a Trump ally who is seeking to shutter the department, plans to spend roughly $43,000 on new furniture for her office. In a report by Ariana Baio, The Guardian said the Trump administration has insisted its controversial education cuts are saving "millions of dollars."

According to The Guardian, McMahon had said that moving her office would save taxpayers $4.8m annually. The Guardian's summary does not say how that savings figure was calculated or who calculated it. The summary also describes a statement from McMahon's office to Congress, but the text is cut off, so the content of that statement cannot be reported here.

The two reports differ in emphasis. The Times focused on McMahon's stated reason for replacing the furniture, while The Guardian focused on the claimed savings and the administration's position on its education cuts. Both reports put the furniture spending at about $43,000 and both tie the spending to efforts to close or shutter the department.

The available summaries do not indicate whether the Education Department or the White House responded to the reports beyond the statements described above.

Sources: The New York Times: Linda McMahon Spends $43,000 on Furniture as She Looks to Close Education Department; The Guardian: Education secretary Linda McMahon plans to spend nearly $43,000 on office furniture.