Democrats run out of time on DeVos

WASHINGTON—Secretary of Education–designate Betsy DeVos has long been a supporter of the GOP, and on Thursday evening Republican senators returned the favor.

DeVos is the wealthiest of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet appointees. Worth more than $5 billion, the Michigan philanthropist has donated millions to promote school choice programs across the country but also has bankrolled Republican politicians.

The secretary of education nominee provokes a clear partisan divide between Democrats who believe she is unfit to lead the department and elated Republicans, eager for her reforms. Democrats came into DeVos’ Senate confirmation hearing Thursday ready to attack with a series of probing questions about her business interests, personal beliefs, and qualifications for the job. But DeVos left mostly unscathed, with some help from Republicans.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, limited questions to one round of five minutes for each senator, enraging Democrats who insisted the public needed to witness DeVos’ answer all their questions in an open forum.

“It suggests that this committee is trying to protect this nominee from scrutiny,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.

Alexander said he set the rules based on the precedent of how the committee handled recent Department of Education nominees, and it would be unfair to treat DeVos differently.

“She’s had a thorough questioning here,” Alexander told reporters after the hearing concluded with Democrats pleading for more time to query her. “[DeVos has] complied with all the rules of the committee. Her FBI check turned out nothing. She said if the Office of Government Ethics decides she needs to divest herself of any conflicts of interest, she will do it. And that letter agreement will be public before we vote, so I don’t know what else to do in order to have a fair hearing.”

DeVos has met with each senator on the committee privately to answer their questions and agreed to respond to follow-up inquiries in writing over the next two days.

The Office of Government Ethics has not completed DeVos’ ethics review yet, which was another complaint from Democrats. Alexander said he plans for the committee to vote on her confirmation next Tuesday, but only if the ethics office completes the paperwork by Friday, giving committee members time to review it.

DeVos has worked for years to promote the growth of public charter schools and other alternatives to traditional public schools, including homeschooling, vouchers, and educational savings accounts. She said Thursday night it’s time to end the one-size-fits-all education model for American students.

“Why in 2017 are we still questioning parents’ ability to exercise educational choice for their children?” DeVos asked. “I am a firm believer that parents should be empowered to choose the learning environment that’s best for each of their individual children.”

Almost reading from the same script, Republicans praised DeVos for her advocacy and passion for promoting school choice for families and not accepting the status quo.

But in the time Democrats did have to question DeVos, they were able to get to their party’s talking points.

In an exchange with Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., DeVos appeared ill-prepared for a question about the debate between student proficiency and student growth. He then asked about her donations to Focus on the Family and if DeVos agreed with the Christian organization’s belief that homosexuals can be converted.

DeVos denied she has ever been an advocate for so-called conversion therapy for students.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., attempted to back DeVos into a corner by implying her wealth was the only reason she was nominated.

“Do you think that if your family had not made hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions to the Republican Party that you would be sitting here today?” he asked.

DeVos responded that’s not the case: “I have worked very hard on behalf of parents and children for the last almost 30 years, to be a voice for parents and a voice for students, and to empower parents to make decisions on behalf of their children, primarily low-income children.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska., was the only Republican to raise doubts about the secretary of education nominee—so far no GOP senator has publically said they will vote no. Murkowski said DeVos’ avid support for charter schools is troubling for her home state since 82 percent of Alaskan communities aren’t attached by roads and have limited options for education. She said she needs to have a clear commitment from DeVos that she would not undermine or erode the public school system in states with a significant rural population.

“I can assure that if confirmed, I will support Alaska in its approach to educating its youngsters,” DeVos said.