Senate Delays Confirmation Hearing For Education Nominee Betsy DeVos

President-elect Donald Trump calls out to the media as he and Betsy DeVos pose for photographs at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster clubhouse in Bedminster, N.J., Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on Monday evening announced that it would delay the confirmation hearing for Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Education Department, Betsy DeVos, from Wednesday Jan. 11 to Tuesday Jan. 17.

The statement from the HELP Committee came after Democratic senators ramped up calls to delay confirmation hearings until after the Office of Government Ethics has completed reviews of the nominees. The Senate is still waiting on Devos’ ethics review, but Republicans did not attribute the delay to the lack of an ethics report.

The office of Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), the committee’s chair, also told the Washington Post that the hearing postponement will not delay DeVos’ confirmation overall.

“Betsy DeVos is an outstanding nominee who has complied with all of the committee’s requirements and no one doubts that she will be confirmed as Education Secretary,” an aide to Alexander told the Post. “This hearing delay is simply to accommodate the Senate schedule.”

An aide to Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the committee’s ranking member, told the Washington Post that Murray hopes “this additional time will allow Ms. DeVos to complete the required ethics paperwork in time for the Office of Government Ethics to submit it to the HELP Committee before her hearing, just as every single one of President Obama’s nominees did and as Leader McConnell demanded eight years ago.”

DeVos is a prominent Michigan Republican from a family of influential conservative donors. Her husband, Dick DeVos was a driving force behind the state’s right-to-work law, and her father founded the conservative Family Research Council. Betsy DeVos is a big school choice proponent who has pushed for the expansion of charter schools and voucher programs.

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  1. Amway Devos:
    If you sign up just 10 more people you get a discount on your lobbying contribution.
    Meet your fund raising goals and you get a car!
    I’ll show you ethics

    Edit …
    If you have never seen it take the time. John Oliver on Devos and her ilk scam artists

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6MwGeOm8iI
  2. Let’s not forget Betsy’s ethics challenged bro, Blackwater’s Erik Prince. The swamp doth overflow in that family.

  3. Don’t believe this lie for a minute! What really happened I’ll venture is a.) she and her husband have balked at providing the needed documents b.) she and hubby may be re-thinking the nomination in line with who needs this headache of financial disclosure.

    “Who benefits” (from the old Latin line “cui bono”) fits here as they may have finally realized they stand to lose more than gain from her nomination. Bet the Trump team told her not to worry over the ethics issue (note: last week’s failed attempt to weaken the ethics committee) but some pubbie Senators told her different behind closed doors. We’ll soon see if I am right.

  4. @machoneman You’re likely correct on this. And then,there’s all that bothersome work of actually attempting to run a large organization.

  5. Avatar for docb docb says:

    Privatizing our schools has crippled some factions of students and educators…Amway Devos is for that and her brother is the ’ Blackwater’ Prince…Not a good family at all…

    Stop the grift of the drumpf nominees…Crooks just like him!

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