WASHINGTON – Opponents of Betsy Devos, President Trump’s nominee for education secretary, have bombarded the offices of Florida Sens. Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio, part of a national effort that has weakened her chances of being confirmed.
8 Months Ago
8 Months Ago
8 Months Ago
Nelson received more than 2,000 phone calls by Wednesday afternoon, a spokesman said, and most were against DeVos.
Rubio’s refused to say how many calls or emails had come in, citing “longstanding policy of not publicizing this info. But it’s likely the Republican has faced a more intense effort.
“Big, big news. Just one more Republican vote necessary. Call Marco Rubio and tell him to VOTE NO,” read a Facebook post Tuesday night after Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski came out against DeVos, who has performed poorly in confirmation hearings.
Critics point to DeVos’ political contributions and Rubio is a recipient, getting $5,400 for last year’s Senate campaign. She also contributed to Rubio’s presidential campaign and gave $50,000 to the Conservative Solutions PAC that supported that bid. Rubio also got money from other DeVos family members.
Still, Rubio has long supported the school choice movement DeVos has championed and has backed all of Trump’s nominees.
“I support @BetsyDeVos’ nomination, because every child deserves a good #education regardless of their zip code or how much money they have,” Rubio wrote in Jan. 17 Twitter post.
Nelson on Tuesday said he’ll vote against DeVos but did not elaborate other than to say he was joining Collins and Murkowski.
“I have serious concerns about a nominee to be secretary of education who has been so involved in one side of the equation, so immersed in the push for vouchers, that she may be unaware of what actually is successful within the public schools, and also what is broken and how to fix them,” Murkowski said.
Their opposition leaves Republicans no room for another defection.
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