'Our Children … Will Suffer the Consequences': Tammy Duckworth Puts DeVos Confirmation on Blast

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Illinois' Democrat Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth voted against confirming Betsy DeVos as secretary for the Department of Education, following through with earlier pledges not to support President Donald Trump's nominee.

But DeVos received the Cabinet appointment after Vice President Mike Pence broke an unprecedented 50-50 tie in the U.S. Senate that mostly cut down party lines, with two Republican senators joining the 48 Democrats who voted to block her confirmation.

“I do not believe the President nominated the best candidate to serve as Secretary of Education; I do not even believe he nominated a qualified candidate," Duckworth said, delivering a scathing rebuke of DeVos after the vote on the Senate floor. "I was hoping Ms. DeVos would ease my concerns about her qualifications at her confirmation hearing and prove that she was up to the job. Instead, Ms. DeVos failed to study, showed up unprepared and appeared unfamiliar with a foundational civil rights law that guarantees every student, including those with disabilities, the right to a quality, equitable education."

RELATED: Betsy DeVos Vote Splits Senate 50-50; Mike Pence Breaks Tie to Confirm

"It is a shame that someone who has never been a teacher or administrator, and who holds no degree in education policy, will now helm the agency tasked with educating our children and training our workforce," Illinois' freshman senator added. "Unfortunately, our children and our nation will suffer the consequences of this decision for decades to come."

WATCH: Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) delivers a scathing rebuke of Betsy DeVos on the U.S. Senate floor:

Durbin expressed his opposition to DeVos' confirmation in an online statement he released over the weekend.

"We need an Education Secretary who will stand up for our nation’s students, educators, and schools," he wrote in a Facebook update explaining his vote. "Betsy DeVos is unqualified to do so and has a record of siding with corporate and for-profit interests over students and public education."

As late as Monday night, Durbin also was trying drum up a third GOP senator who would break party ranks and stop DeVos' Cabinet appointment.

So far, Durbin and Duckworth have supported more than half of Trump's Cabinet nominees. Here's a look at how the state's U.S. senators have voted in those confirmation hearings:

Voted Yes

• James Mattis, secretary of defense
• John Kelly, secretary of homeland security
• Elaine Chao, secretary of transportation

Voted No

• Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State
• Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education

Among non-Cabinet nominees, the senators voted for Nikki Haley as ambassador to the United Nations, and they voted against appointing Mike Pompeo as director of the CIA.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) (photo via Patch archive)

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