Betsy DeVos' approval rating is 28% as voters back investigations into student debt scandal: poll
After gutting loan forgiveness programs, DeVos is the most unpopular Trump administration official in a new poll
A majority of voters support congressional investigations into Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos' handling of student debt programs, according to the results of a new poll, which exposes how deeply unpopular the Trump Cabinet member is across the country.
DeVos has an approval rating of just 28%, according to a survey conducted by Global Strategy Group on behalf of government watchdog Allied Progress, who provided the results to Salon. DeVos received the lowest approval rating of any Trump administration official tested. The next most unpopular official was acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney at 33%.
The survey, which sampled 1,008 registered voters, also found overwhelming support for congressional investigations into whether DeVos abused taxpayer funds or used her position to benefit herself or her family.
"If Secretary DeVos was hoping Americans are too distracted by President Trump's scandals to notice or care are about her efforts to sell out student borrowers, she's in for a shock," Derek Martin, the director of Allied Progress, said. "We found the public is especially skeptical of Secretary DeVos — for good reason. What motivated DeVos' decisions to disregard the law in order to deny debt relief to defrauded borrowers and disabled veterans? Americans want to know, and it's Congress' duty to find out."
The poll finds that 58% of voters support an investigation into DeVos withholding automatic student debt relief from severely disabled veterans despite calls to do so from nearly every attorney general in the country. Data released by the department showed that although it had identified more than 42,000 veterans who were eligible for debt forgiveness, fewer than 9,000 submitted the new applications it required. A bipartisan group of 51 attorneys general said the requirements "may prove insurmountable CONTINUE READING: Betsy DeVos' approval rating is 28% as voters back investigations into student debt scandal: poll | Salon.com
