Why can’t Betsy DeVos give a direct answer to a direct question?
Lawmakers wanted to hear yes or no from the education secretary. They usually didn’t.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos seems to have a problem answering direct questions with direct answers — at least when testifying before Congress.
DeVos was on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to testify about her department’s policies and priorities before the House Committee on Education and Labor and was asked repeatedly to provide yes-or-no answers to questions. She rarely did.
It wasn’t one of DeVos’s most memorable appearances before Congress, such as in 2017 when she said schools might need guns to protect against grizzly bears. But her performance still angered Democrats, who questioned her on transgender rights, literacy programs and using federal funds to arm teachers.
In some cases, her responses skirted the actual question as she attempted to change the subject. When Rep. Donald W. Norcross (D-N.J.) tried to get her to directly answer questions about whether she supported coercing teachers to leave their unions, she said her interest was in helping teachers develop in their profession.
NORCROSS: What does that have to do with joining unions? You are not answering that . . .
DEVOS: It doesn’t have anything [to do with it]. It has to do with supporting teachers . . .
NORCROSS: But I’m not asking if you are supporting teachers . . .
In other cases, she tried to answer with a longer answer but was cut off by lawmakers who didn’t like the answer or wanted to move to a different subject.
How she answered became a point for discussion. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) said at the end of the questioning that it was “a gotcha hearing,” with some lawmakers trying to twist the secretary’s words. Rep. Van Taylor (R-Tex.) gave DeVos a reprieve earlier.
TAYLOR: You haven’t had a chance to answer a lot of questions. Is there anything you want to say?
DEVOS: There have been a number of things on which I was not able to comment. I think it’s difficult if issues are being conflated, and I also am here not to answer multiple-choice questions but to have an exchange on a number of issues.
Here are some of the exchanges:
---
Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.), a former National Teacher of the Year, asked DeVos whether she believed that as education secretary she had the authority to tell school districts they could use federal money to arm teachers and train them in using guns.
DeVos said she did not believe she had the authority, but Hayes produced an Education Department memo that clearly says she does have that authority.
Hayes tried to get DeVos to state her position on using federal funds to arm teachers, but the secretary would not. Nor would she say whether she had the authority to provide guidance on the issue.
DEVOS: I have neither advocated for or against.
HAYES: No, you are absolutely right. You have not advocated for or against, but in light of the contents of this memo, you have the ability to make a decision. Your silence is a decision. You have the authority to say that we cannot use federal funds to arm teachers. You are in line for presidential succession. Make a decision CONTINUE READING: Why can’t Betsy DeVos give a direct answer to a direct question? - The Washington Post
