Senate Democrats are within one vote of killing the nomination of Betsy DeVos to be Education Secretary after both Republican Senators Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski announced that they would vote no on DeVos.
Sen. Collins (R-ME) announced on the Senate floor that she will be voting against DeVos, “Her concentration on charter schools and vouchers, however, raises question about whether or not she fully appreciates that the secretary of education’s primary focus must be on helping states… strengthen our public schools.”
Collins suggested that DeVos lacks the experience needed for the position, and said that she would be voting against the nomination when it comes to the Senate floor.
Murkowski (R-AK) said, “I think that Mrs. DeVos has much to learn about our nation’s public schools: how they work and the challenges they face. And 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 is successful in the public schools and also what is broken and how to fix them. I cannot support this nominee.”
The DeVos nomination could be in even more danger if Republicans vote to confirm Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) as Attorney General before a vote is held on DeVos. With Sessions out of the Senate, Republicans would only have 49 votes for Trump’s nominee, and her nomination would fail.
To be on the safe side, Senate Democrats need to pick up one more Republican no vote. It could be argued that of all of Trump’s cabinet nominees, DeVos has the potential to do the most immediate damage to children in the United States of America. She is anti-public education crusader, whose confirmation hearing revealed a laughably unqualified nominee who lacked any experience or basic knowledge about public education.
The rubber stamping of Trump’s nominees has hit a roadblock as the nomination of Betsy DeVos is very close to being voted down.