CLEVELAND, Ohio — As expected, Vice President Mike Pence cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate confirming Betsy DeVos as secretary of education.
Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, were the only two Republican Senators not to vote for DeVos.
Murkowski and Collins voted no after listening to their constituents opposition to DeVos and listening to her performance during the confirmation hearings. Collins was also bothered by DeVos’ “lack of familiarity” with funding laws for special education programs.
Department of Education latest DeVos family acquisition.
Collins was the only Republican Senator voting not to receive a campaign contribution from Betsy DeVos or her family.
Since 1980, Betsy DeVos has personally donated $115,000 to Republican Senators. The DeVos family has donated $950,000 to Senators. In the past two election cycles, the family has donated an additional $8.3 million to Republican Party super PACs. Ohio Senator Rob Portman received $51,000 from the family.
When asked by Senator Bernie Sanders if it was true her family had donated $200 million to the GOP over the years, DeVos said, “That’s possible.”
Usually, big campaign donors are awarded with an Ambassadorship, not a cabinet post, let alone one as important as the the department of education.
Trump didn’t know what DeVos was nominated for.
DeVos might not have been Trump’s choice to be education secretary. It was under reported, but on Inauguration Day, when Trump was ceremoniously signing his cabinet nominations, he could be heard asking what department DeVos was nominated for. It was telling that Trump didn’t know who his education secretary nominee was on Inauguration Day. Was she really the choice of Reince Priebus,Steve Bannon or Mike Pence?
My objection to DeVos being confirmed has nothing to do with her positions on issues like vouchers, which I support. DeVos comes across as a nice person with good intentions. But she also came across in the confirmation hearings as out of her depth and unqualified, at even the most basic level, to run a large government department.
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