WASHINGTON — Democrats sliced holes in billionaire Betsy DeVos’s credentials to be the next US Education Secretary at a confirmation hearing on Tuesday, raising doubts whether President-elect Donald Trump’s pick will win approval in the full Senate.
The nomination of DeVos to head an agency that sets policy for younger children and universities and also administers a college financial aid program of $1 trillion has outraged Democrats who believe the Michigan Republican wants to dismantle public education.
Teachers unions, a major constituency for the party, roundly oppose DeVos, a philanthropist and investor.
“Do you think if you were not a multibillionaire, if your family had not made hundreds of millions of dollars in contributions to the Republican party, that you would be sitting here today?” asked Independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who recently ran to be the Democrats’ presidential nominee.
Democratic Senators have made their opposition clear in recent days in letters, speeches and most notably at the hearing.
Next Tuesday, the Education Committee will likely approve sending her name to the full chamber when it votes in an executive session next Tuesday. Then, Democrats could block the nomination with a filibuster on the Senate floor.
Former Senator Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ candidate for Vice President in 2000, gave DeVos a laudatory introduction at the hearing, but other party members were wide-ranging in their criticism.
Minnesota’s Al Franken expressed surprise DeVos was unfamiliar with a hot education debate over measuring student achievement by proficiency or by growth.
Connecticut’s Chris Murphy was dismayed when DeVos did not condemn guns in schools.
Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, an advocate of tough financial regulation, asked whether DeVos or her children had attended public schools, borrowed student loans or received federal financial help known as Pell grants.
“You have no experience with financial aid,” Warren summed up when DeVos answered “no.”
Many were dismayed DeVos would not pledge to carry out rules on sexual assault, for-profit colleges and fair access for students with disabilities, only saying she would review the policies.
Generally, Democrats pressed on how DeVos will manage her investments and companies in the education sector, including an on-line charter school, while serving as the most powerful public figure in the area. — Reuters
