Staffing Woes at the Education Department
Claude Pressnell, apparent choice as assistant secretary for postsecondary education, removes himself from consideration, further stalling efforts to fill leadership ranks at the Education Department.
The Trump administration’s pick to oversee higher ed policy at the Department of Education is out of the running.
In an email last week, Claude Pressnell, president of the Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association, said he was withdrawing his name from consideration for the job of assistant secretary for postsecondary education.
It’s the second time in recent weeks that a candidate for a high-profile role at the department has said “no thanks” to the department deep in the vetting process. And it underscores the slow progress since January in making key political hires to round out Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s team.
Pressnell said in the email to presidents of TICUA member institutions that he and DeVos had discussed since April the possibility of his being appointed to the assistant secretary position by President Trump.
“Whereas it was a great honor to be approached about accepting the appointment, after arduous consideration I have decided to withdraw my name from consideration,” he wrote. “The TICUA Board of Directors very graciously worked with me through this process. This was one of the most difficult decisions of my career, but I am thrilled to continue my work with TICUA.”
Pressnell declined to comment on the email or the reasons for his decision.
The department declined to comment about its hiring efforts. Some well-connected Republicans cautioned Federal pick to lead higher ed policy drops out of consideration:
