WASHINGTON — Betsy DeVos is up for a controversial vote as U.S. education secretary, expected on Tuesday. And opponents of DeVos are targeting Sen. Rob Portman to keep her from getting confirmed.
They’re angry that Portman, known to many as a compassionate conservative, says he will vote to confirm her. They’ve called his Washington office incessantly and are protesting at his Cleveland office. They see DeVos as not only unqualified but as antithetical to everything an education secretary should be, including being informed about the laws covering education.
Trump pick Betsy DeVos jams phone lines. Here’s what you get when you call Sen. Portman
Editorial boards have urged Portman to vote no on DeVos, an unapologetic champion of private companies that get taxpayer money to run charter schools, some with questionable oversight.
DeVos has a history in Ohio. In 2008, the Ohio Elections Commission fined a school-choice-advocacy group that DeVos led for election law violations. With court judgments and penalties, those fines now total $5.3 million, although DeVos maintains the obligation is not hers.
Dear @senrobportman: Ohio is watching you. https://t.co/6aEYjFWn3A
— Christina M (@Super_Christina) February 2, 2017
Portman is not dissuaded — and unless he or another senator change their minds, DeVos is going to be confirmed. The vote is that close, thought to be 50-50, with Vice President Mike Pence breaking the tie.
DeVos’s opponents in Ohio say that if Portman goes through with the vote, he will suffer politically. They question his motivations. They are ticked off.
Here are five things to know about Portman’s stance.
Portman just won reelection:
He doesn’t have to run for another six years. This matters because some DeVos opponents say they will work to defeat him if votes for confirmation.
Hey @RobPortman –
If you vote YES for DeVos I will vote against you next election & donate to your opponent. #TaketheDeVosPledge #DumpDeVos
— Mary Louise Ruehr (@One4TheBooks) February 5, 2017
Six years is a long time, and so many things can happen between now and then that the threats may lose their relevance.
Portman ran a smart campaign:
The message on which he ran — namely fighting the nation’s opioid problem — and won had little to do with the subjects now making so many people angry. If voters are surprised now, they share some of the blame and Portman deserves much of the credit.
As Ohio faces more synthetic drug problems, Sen. Rob Portman proposes bill
Democrats have long seen Portman as a master of the political feint. He was a genuine champion of taking action against the heroin and opioid epidemic harming Ohio, and he succeeded in getting an important bill passed to help. You might also know about his work to fight child sex trafficking — again, gaining considerable credit and arguably quite effective.
Portman’s successful message: He cares deeply about Ohio and works on those important issues.
Portman is conservative:
Portman can fight heroin and vote to support school choice at the same time. He is so good at walking both sides of the line that he frustrates Democrats. But to see conservative principles as contrary to doing good is a bias unto itself.
But what about gay marriage, you ask? Yes, Portman started supporting it after one of his sons announced he was gay, but he never supported the method through which it became enshrined in law: through the courts. Portman wanted to leave the legalization of gay marriage up to every state, contending that they’d come to the right decision eventually. That is a conservative legal position.
Portman has received $51,000 from the DeVos family:
DeVos family’s contributions for Portman’s last race — $43,200 — all came on the same day, March 31, 2015, campaign finance records show. Some people suspect the money is why Portman insists on voting for Betsy DeVos.
“What else could make Rob Portman vote for Betsy DeVos?” asked Dan Greenberg, a high school English teacher in Sylvania, in a telephone interview. “Because it’s certainly not in the interest of Ohio children.”
He is far from alone in holding that opinion.
#Ohio Sen. @senrobportman Vote NO on DeVos. Don’t be bought off by big money. Protect our kids.
— Josie Setzler (@jvsetzler) February 6, 2017
Yet these critics might be overlooking something.
President Donald Trump, who nominated Devos, was considered an extreme long shot to win the White House at the time the Davos family was writing Portman checks. Portman had yet to endorse in the GOP primaries but when he did many months later, it was for John Kasich.
OK, some say, but might the family’s future generosity now be on Portman’s mind?
There is no way to know, but as Republicans say, that’s no different from Democrats knowing the teachers’ unions — which oppose DeVos and donate a lot to Democrats — will support them later.
Portman will own his poor decision, critics say:
The Cincinnati Enquirer editorial board urged Portman to “show some backbone.” A cleveland.com editorial was just as tough.
So why is Portman voting for DeVos?
He says it is because she will promote local control instead of having Washington “dictate education policy.” She will support public education, he says, and promote career and technical education. His statement did not include school choice — vouchers and more charter schools — but DeVos has built her reputation on choice.
Will the vote hurt him, then?
Until now, Portman has always portrayed himself “as a compassionate conservative who would break with his party if needed,” said David Cohen, a University of Akron political scientist.
Now, “if he ends up voting for DeVos — the most controversial of Trump’s Cabinet picks because of her support of charter schools and lack of understanding of basic education policy — Portman will have a much harder time selling himself as an independent-thinking Republican.
“Instead,” Cohen concluded, “he’ll look like a follower who faithfully takes orders from Republican leadership and Donald Trump.”
That could be. Then again, Portman doesn’t have to run again until 2022.
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