The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted Tuesday to advance President Trump’s nomination of Betsy DeVos to lead the Education Department, setting up a final confirmation vote on the Senate floor.
The committee vote went according to party lines — the committee’s 12 Republican members supporting her outvoted the 11 Democrats who opposed her. Despite the staunch and loud Democratic opposition, none of the GOP senators wavered from supporting DeVos.
Democrats attempted to challenge the vote over a technicality regarding a GOP senator’s vote by proxy in favor of DeVos, but committee chair Sen. Alexander, R-Tenn., said the vote was already completed by the time Democrats raised their challenge. After Democrats failed to vote to overturn Alexander’s ruling, Alexander called for a re-vote on DeVos with all senators present, and the vote went in DeVos’ favor again.
DeVos’ nomination was more controversial than the Trump administration and GOP senators probably expected.
Democrats complained to Alexander about not having enough time to question DeVos or review her ethics paperwork. Alexander said Tuesday that DeVos answered more questions than any education secretary in history, in a committee hearing that lasted more than three hours. DeVos also answered 1,400 written questions asked by the committee’s members.
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When she was grilled by the committee on Jan. 17, much of the Democratic questions focused on possible conflicts of interest. DeVos is divesting from many of her companies, but said she won’t take advantage of a tax loophole that could have saved her millions of dollars. She also won’t take a salary from the federal government, assuming she’s confirmed.
DeVos also made comments about guns in schools that were seized on by her liberal opposition. After that hearing, DeVos got an icy response from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who appeared to wave away a DeVos handshake.
Despite the opposition from Democrats on the committee, many others supported her nomination, including former Sen. Joe Lieberman, of Connecticut, who testified in favor of DeVos in front of the committee on Jan. 17. DeVos also has Democratic support from Kevin Chavous, who worked with DeVos at the American Federation for Children; Anthony Williams, a former mayor of Washington, D.C.; Eva Moskowitz, the founder and CEO of a public charter school network, in addition to several current and former Democratic state legislators.
Jason Russell is the contributors editor for the Washington Examiner.
