Betsy DeVos, Education Secretary Nominee, Confirmed

(Updated) The U.S. Senate deadlocked 50-50 Tuesday to confirm Betsy DeVos as the next secretary of education, with the tie-breaking vote cast by Vice President Mike Pence. For more, go here.

(Patch's earlier report) Senate Democrats are pulling out the stops to derail the confirmation of school choice advocate Betsy DeVos as U.S. education secretary, and will now vote Tuesday. On the Senate floor, Washington state Sen. Patty Murray, the ranking Democrat on the committee that narrowly approved her confirmation, said Democrats would hold the floor for the next 24 hours in an attempt to persuade another Republican to vote against her.

DeVos cleared a key hurdle Friday when the Senate voted along party lines, 52-48, to cut off debate on her nomination.

DeVos, a western Michigan school choice advocate, is one of President Trump’s most controversial cabinet picks. Criticism of DeVos ranges from her support for taxpayer-funded vouchers to help parents pay private school tuition for their children to what some senators said is a lack of familiarity with the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. That law guarantees a public education to children with disabilities, but DeVos said whether to enforce it should be left to the discretion of state and local school officials.

Trump, however, has defended his nomination of DeVos, a conservative billionaire whose family has contributed millions of dollars to influence Michigan politics. He has said called her a “bold reformer” who will take on special interests.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted, 12-11, Tuesday to move DeVos’ confirmation to the full Senate. The vote came hours after reports that DeVos may have plagiarized answers to questions.

» To watch the live stream of the confirmation vote, go here.

Confirmation of the controversial nominee could come down to a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Mike Pence after two Republican senators — Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — said they won’t vote for DeVos.

Murkowski made similar statements following Collins, noting that she heard from thousands of her Alaskan constituents expressing concerns about DeVos. But she also called her dissenting vote a "personal" decision.
“I have serious concerns about a nominee to be secretary of Education,” she said, “who has been so immersed in the discussion of vouchers.”

The New York Times reported that some senators had said they had received more calls in opposition to DeVos than any of Trump’s other nominees. The call volume was so high that not all were answered. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nevada, took to Twitter to urge constituents to keep trying to get through.

Cody Fenwick and Marc Torrence of Patch’s national staff contributed to this report.

Image via Keith A. Almli, Wikimedia, used under Creative Commons