Whiplash: After 2 Senate Defections, DeVos Shores Up 50 Votes Thursday and Clears Cloture Friday
Update as of February 3: Senate Republicans have taken steps to conclude the debate surrounding Betsy DeVos’s track record by calling for an early-morning cloture vote at 7 a.m., a move that is considered unusual. The final count of the vote was divided along party lines, with 52 in favor and 48 against. Although Republicans Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins voted in favor of the procedural motion, they had previously expressed their intention not to vote for DeVos in the final confirmation. This action prevents Democrats, who have become more energized in their opposition to DeVos after her troubled committee appearance, from delaying the confirmation vote early next week. Senators Lamar Alexander and Patty Murray, the chairman and top Democrat on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, initiated the debate at approximately 7:15 a.m. Following this, there will be up to 30 non-consecutive hours of debate prior to the final vote.
Updated article as of February 2: The article has been revised to reflect the endorsement of DeVos by the remaining six senators who were initially undecided. She has now secured the necessary 50 votes in favor.
Betsy DeVos’s confirmation as the secretary of education is in a precarious position after two Republican senators announced their opposition on Wednesday.
These votes will only be the second and third instances of Republican senators defecting against a cabinet nominee put forth by President Trump. (Rand Paul opposed CIA Director Mike Pompeo.) Given the slim majority held by the party in the chamber, this revelation led to a coalition consisting of Democrats, academics, and teachers unions intensifying their efforts to convince the Senate to reject DeVos’s nomination, even going as far as sharing contact information for senators who were believed to be undecided.
The Senate is currently divided 52-48 in favor of the Republicans. With unified Democratic opposition and the two GOP defections, DeVos’s vote count stands at 50-50, leaving Vice President Mike Pence to cast the deciding vote. This will mark the first time a vice president has broken a tie since 2008. The final vote is expected to take place on Monday, and Republican leaders have expressed confidence in DeVos’s confirmation.
The drama unfolded on Wednesday afternoon when two Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, announced on the Senate floor that they would not support DeVos.
These announcements caught the Republican leadership off guard, prompting them to schedule the vote on DeVos’s nomination ahead of the vote for Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions. If Sessions were confirmed before DeVos, she would have lost an important vote in her favor.
Patty Murray of Washington, the leading Democrat on the education committee, criticized the Republicans for pushing through DeVos’s nomination despite concerns about her finances, potential conflicts of interest, and her lack of understanding of fundamental education issues.
Advocates who sought a third Republican senator to oppose DeVos’s nomination targeted more than six other Republicans on Wednesday, including Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Rob Portman of Ohio, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Dean Heller of Nevada, and Nebraska’s Ben Sasse and Deb Fischer.
However, by midday on Thursday, all six senators announced their support for DeVos:
"I fully support her," Toomey stated in an interview with The Washington Post.
Portman stated in a Thursday statement, "I support Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education because, during the confirmation process, she made a commitment to strongly support public education and because of her endorsement of local control, instead of allowing the federal government to dictate education policy at the state and local level."
Flake voiced his support for DeVos on Twitter, comparing it to a line from the movie Jerry Maguire: "she had me at ‘school choice’ years ago."
Heller released a statement saying, "As the spouse of a teacher, I believe Betsy DeVos is the right choice for this position."
Sasse reiterated his previous praise of DeVos, stating, "It is difficult to think of many who have contributed more to the education reform movement in the past 30 years than Betsy DeVos."
Shortly after 2 p.m. on Thursday, Fischer became the final senator to express her support through a tweet: "While I may not agree with Mrs. DeVos on every issue, I do believe she possesses the necessary ability and commitment to lead the department."
Murkowski and Collins had previously indicated on Tuesday that although they would vote to move DeVos’s nomination out of the committee, they were not committed to voting in favor of her on the Senate floor. On Wednesday, they reconfirmed their intention to vote in favor of invoking cloture to end the debate on the nomination but made it clear that they would not vote for her confirmation.
Both individuals expressed concerns about DeVos’s support for charter schools and private school choice, which they believed would come at the expense of traditional public schools.
Collins described the decision as "very difficult" but acknowledged that DeVos genuinely cares about the well-being of the nation’s children. However, she reiterated the concerns she had raised during the committee hearings, questioning whether DeVos would prioritize traditional public schools appropriately and if she fully understood the federal law regarding special education.
DeVos’s nomination has garnered significant attention and opposition, particularly after her shaky performance at the confirmation hearing on January 17. This opposition has come from individuals on social media and Americans who are not typically engaged in Education Department leadership issues.
Murkowski credited the opposition she received from her constituents for influencing her decision. She stated that she had heard from thousands of Alaskans who shared concerns about DeVos’s lack of experience in public education and her demonstrated lack of knowledge during the confirmation hearing.
Republican leaders, on the other hand, expressed confidence that DeVos would ultimately secure the necessary votes for confirmation. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer expressed full confidence in DeVos, praising her tireless advocacy for reforms that benefit children.
It is important to note that received funding from The Dick & Betsy DeVos Family Foundation from 2014 to 2016, and Campbell Brown serves on the boards of both and the American Federation for Children, formerly chaired by Betsy DeVos. Brown played no role in the reporting or editing of this article.
Receive stories like these directly in your inbox by signing up for Newsletter.
