Posted on 02/03/2017 4:41:01 AM PST by abb
Betsy DeVos, Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Education, overcame a key Senate hurdle early Friday morning, clearing the path for her expected confirmation.
Senators voted 52-48 to advance DeVos’s nomination. No Democrats voted yes.
The vote, which came during a rare Friday session, sets up lawmakers to take a final vote early next week.
Vice President Pence is expected to have to break a 50-50 tie, the first time a vice president will cast the deciding vote on a Cabinet nomination.
Senate rules require an extra 30 hours of debate before senators can confirm DeVos. If Democrats refuse to yield back time and drag out the procedural clock, they could push a final vote until Tuesday.
Republicans have no room for error to clear DeVos, with GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) saying they’ll vote against her.
The GOP mega-donor has been the subject of fierce opposition from teachers unions and other liberal groups opposed to her support for charter schools and tuition vouchers using public funds.
Opponents are hoping to peel off a third Republican senator, but appear unlikely to succeed.
Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), whom the Huffington Post reported as the “best option” for sinking the nomination, announced his support for DeVos late Thursday.
“I am pleased to vote to confirm Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education,” he said in a statement. “Too many American kids are being left behind every day. That is not acceptable to Betsy DeVos, and it is not acceptable to me.”
GOP Sens. John Hoeven (N.D.), Deb Fischer (Neb.) and Dean Heller (Nev.) —each considered potential swing votes — also said this week that they would support Trump’s pick.
Collins separately said that she isn’t trying to sway her GOP colleagues to vote against DeVos.
“I am doing what I think is right, and I respect that each senator has to make up his or her own mind,” she told reporters. “I’m not lobbying. I gave my speech on the floor.”
Opponents have also flooded Senate phone lines urging members to vote against her, and social media feeds have also been hit hard by anti-DeVos messages.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who came out against DeVos on Thursday, noted she had received 95,000 calls, emails and letters opposing her nomination. Murkowski separately said she received “thousands” of calls from concerned constituents.
Senate Democrats blasted DeVos ahead of the vote, arguing her lack of experience with public schools should disqualify her from leading the Education Department.
"When you judge her in three areas — conflicts of interest, basic confidence and ideology, views on Education policy, it is clear that Betsy DeVos is unfit for the job of Education secretary," Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said. "In all three areas ... she ranks among the lowest of any cabinet nominee I have ever seen."
Under a 2013 decision, Democrats voted to lower the threshold for lower court and Cabinet posts to a simple majority from the previous 60-vote threshold.
If they hadn’t, Trump’s more controversial nominees, including DeVos and now-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, would likely not have been confirmed.
Despite the pushback, Senate GOP leadership and the White House stayed firmly in DeVos’s corner ahead of Friday’s vote.
“I expect her to be confirmed,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told reporters. “You can take that to the bank.”
Collins and Murkowski should pay a price.
” Murkowski separately said she received “thousands” of calls from concerned constituents.”
And a big fat check from her “handlers” at the NEA! Alaska, why, oh why did you foist this trash on the country? Ditto to Maine for “giving us” Collins.
[Really?? she seems pretty under qualified to me...]
Qualifications don’t matter. The Dept of Ed needs to be gutted and eliminated, not sustained.
If DeVos is indeed as “incompetent” as the Dems like to label her, it only serves to drain the swamp faster, and to stop at the source the poisoning of our kids minds.
She deserves the post. I hope she makes it over the top. Children all over the world need her to break the bureaucrats grip on unionzed forced public education.
“the first time a vice president will cast the deciding vote on a Cabinet nomination.” -— How come when the GOP supposedly obstructs, it is a national crisis, but when Rats do it, it is just? /rhetorical
Heh heh heh. More winning.
I agree - she is qualified, but she and her family have been big GOP donors. I suppose DEA is her reward but would have preferred her being given a plum ambassadorship.
Frankly, I don’t know if she will have the knowledge, leadership or fortitude to reform (kill?) the DEA.
I agree - she is unqualified, but she and her family have been big GOP donors. I suppose DEA is her reward but would have preferred her being given a plum ambassadorship.
Frankly, I don’t know if she will have the knowledge, leadership or fortitude to reform (kill?) the DEA.
My uber liberal nephew posted on Facebook that Jerry Moran, our Kansas senator, is thinking about voting against her. I need to email him. If he does this I’ll vote for anyone who runs against him.
I guess Manchin, the confused and corrupt former governor of West Virginia, hung with his pals on the left. One would think that West Virginia public schools, which rank 45th out of 50 states using 17 key metrics, are doing real well under the federal (re)Education Department. Good job Joe!
https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-the-best-schools/5335/
I like that she wants to end Common Core and let the states control curriculum and federal money.
As a retired teacher, I'd rather the choice have been someone who perhaps started out in public education, then moved on because of problems. But what happened? The Teacher's Unions brought this upon themselves. I think back to during the campaign when Trump went to Cleveland's east side to talk to educators, The teacher's unions, instead of demanding a seat at the table, chose instead to protest outside.
Sigh, Big Donor gets plum job :( I thought thats what we are trying to get away from??
He’ll vote for her if his vote is needed.
DING, DING, DING... we have a winner.
This ole' country boy knows all about keeping his powder dry.
Sipp'en korn likker, chaw'en tabbaky, and eaten squirrel pot pie, this hill billy boy is way smarter than those city cousins that broadcast every move.
Ole Joe knows the value of the final, if NEEDED vote!!! Loads of political and maybe financial capital {for his campaign not his pocket, OF COURSE}:)
Congress is not accustomed to a five day work week. Hopefully there will be many more in their future. Having a very few come in to gavel the Senate or House into session and then close almost immediately does not count. Let the Dems boycott.
Why wait to Monday? Ram it through on the weekend. Obama put through controversial policy on Christmas Eve
The vote isn’t guess work. They probably won’t vote on her unless they know how all their members will vote and that they have the numbers. Benefit of being in power. I would suggest that they knew they had the votes so they gave permission for those two to vote against
So McConnell has to keep the rest of the crew in line. If he can’t, the GOP Senate Caucus needs a new leader.
Aren’t there still about 10 Dem Senators up for re-election in 2018 in states that Trump won in 2016?
I hope you’re right. I don’t have a strong opinion about Betsy (one of my favorite names). I watched some of her hearings and she didn’t push back enough. But since I think that the department of ed is evil anyway, it doesn’t matter and I do think that charter schools and other alternative choices are long over due. And of course I hate the teachers unions which are dug in deep in Kansas. That may be why they think they can roll Moran.
Right. We should only appoint people who are intimate with the system. That's the sure way to get the reform we need to wrest control of our schools from entrenched bureaucrats and unions.
Funny how the same people who voted for Trump, a complete outsider with no government experience, demand insider status and experience from his cabinet.
I preferred Larry Arnn, but this woman has said she wants to end Common Core and end the stranglehold the system has over the people who pay the bills. The fact that she recognizes the taxpayer as the customer, and that she wants the taxpayer in charge of how their money is spent, is all I need to know that she is the right person for the job.
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