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.”
Of course The Hill is talking about finding another R to vote against her.
But, where is the talk about which single D would be reasonable enough to vote FOR her?
They should be shocked that not one D would vote for the needed change to the current Ed. bureaucracy.
Both R s and all democrats deceive funding from teachers union. Thread on it after the two Rs announced their opposition Follow the money
Not even Manchin of WV. Surprised on that one. Thought he had some sense.
You expect him to have sense?
Given the intense opposition, it is for certain the woman must be good for the job.
You have apparently missed all the talk of Manchin being at odds with his fellow Dems. Almost to the point of switching sides.
Manchin is a big booster of “public schools” in a state with much poverty.
When I hear him, he doesn’t actually sound like he isn’t an ordinary Democrat
He is still the enemy, he doesn’t have the interests of his dying state at heart
Really?? she seems pretty under qualified to me... Better than one of zero’s picks for sure, but compared to the others... I dont get this one at all. She doesnt seem all that bright.
Are there "thousands" of NEA employees in ALASKA?
I don’t like the idea of vouchers. It’s a back door for the fedgov to enter private and parochial schools. Charters are the only way to go. They are public schools.
I haven’t missed it. What is he waiting for?
They need to speed up these votes so we can get sessions into his position
Manchin is trying to save his seat in the Senate.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
We have a winner! The Rats are the Party Of No! The harder they fight , the weaker they feel on an issue.
Not sure. He hasn’t called me lately.
Well, Manchin did vote to confirm Tillerson for Sec. of State. One of only 3 Dems to do so.
“Not even Manchin of WV. Surprised on that one. Thought he had some sense.”
He’ll vote for her if his vote is needed.
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