Betsy DeVos, Education Secretary Nominee, Approved by Committee

(Updated) Education secretary nominee Betsy DeVos was approved Tuesday by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on a vote of 12-11, clearing the way for a full vote by the Senate. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, cast the deciding vote by proxy, and Democrats on the committee are asking for a new vote, saying proxy votes aren't valid, according to media reports.

Two Republican senators who have said they have reservations about DeVos — Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lia Murkowski of Alaska — voted for her confirmation so it could go to the full Senate, but said they’re not sure they’ll vote for DeVos then, The Detroit News reported.

The Republicans have 52-48 majority in the Senate. In the event of a 50-50 vote split, Vice President Mike Pence would cast the deciding vote.

(Patch's original report) Betsy DeVos, nominated by President Donald Trump to lead the Department of Education, is expected to be confirmed by a Senate committee that held hearings two weeks ago. The vote by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Trump’s nomination of the western Michigan billionaire has been criticized by Senate Democrats, who worry that her advocacy for school choice and taxpayer-funded vouchers to pay for private school will undermine public schools, which the Department of Education oversees.

Democrats, who had asked for additional hearings on her nomination, are making a full-court push to reject the nomination.

The Washington Post reported Tuesday that DeVos’ answers to questions from Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state, the ranking Democrat on the committee,appear to contain unattributed sentences and phrases from some other sources.

The Post cited three examples of similarities, including one that mirrored a statement made by Vanita Gupta, the Justice Department’s civil rights division head under the Obama administration, in a news release giving school districts guidance on accommodating transgender students.

DeVos, asked about how she would handle bullying LGBT students, wrote: “Every child deserves to attend school in a safe, supportive environment where they can learn, thrive, and grow.”

In her May 2016 news release, Gupta wrote: “Every child deserves to attend school in a safe, supportive environment that allows them to thrive and grow.”

Similarities were also noted in answers about students’ use of bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity, which The Post said was similar to a statement in the ASCD educational leadership group’s magazine. The Post also said that her answer to a question about whether she would continue the practice of publishing lists of schools under Title IX investigations was almost identical to language on the Department of Education website.

If confirmed by the committee, a vote will move to the full Senate in February.

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Photo by Keith A. Almli via Wikimedia Commons