GOP Senate chair rejects Democrats' bid for second hearing on Trump education nominee
The Republican chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee on Monday rejected a formal request from Democrats to hold a second confirmation hearing for Betsy DeVos , President Trump’s choice to head the U.S. Department of Education .
A vote on DeVos’ confirmation, originally scheduled for Tuesday, had already been delayed until Jan. 31 to allow her to answer lawmakers' hundreds of questions, many about her financial disclosures.
In a letter sent on Monday to the panel’s chairman, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R- Tenn.), Democrats said education is too important an issue — and the education secretary’s position too important a position — “to jam a nominee through without sufficient questioning and scrutiny.”
Alexander last Tuesday introduced her to the committee in a rare evening hearing, saying DeVos, a well-known Michigan billionaire and school choice proponent, is “in the mainstream of public opinion — and her critics are not.”
During the hearing, Democrats peppered DeVos with a series of detail-oriented queries about the USA’s public school system, criticizing her lack of experience in the system. DeVos, 59, a GOP mega-donor who once led the Michigan Republican Party , admitted that she had neither attended public school nor sent her children there. She also said no family members have ever relied on federal college loans.
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Detroit student Dana Wilson went to the potential education secretary's hearing. Now, she's speaking out. Video provided by Newsy Newslook
In a particularly sharp exchange, Sen. Elizabeth Warren , D-Mass, asked about her family's experiences with college loans, then noted that Trump last year paid a $25 million settlement to students of Trump University who complained that they didn’t get what they paid for. Asked if she would enforce rules that require career colleges to GOP Senate chair rejects Democrats' bid for second hearing on Trump education nominee: