The Senate confirmed Betsy DeVos as the new United States education secretary Tuesday, after Vice President Mike Pence cast a vote to break the 50-50 tie on a cabinet nomination It was the first time for a vice president to intercede to secure the role for a cabinet secretary, BBC reported. No Democrats voted for DeVos' nomination and even two Republicans opposed her confirmation.
Critics criticize her because they know that she does not have experience with public schools; they also raised questions about conflicts of interest considering her status as a billionaire with numerous investments and challenged her focus and commitment on school choices.
Despite the efforts of the Democrats, they failed to convince a third Republican to kill the nomination, according to Buzzfeed, and that paved the way for Pence to make the deciding vote. Pence told Fox News last Sunday that it was an honor for him to cast the deciding vote on the nomination of DeVos. DeVos then reacted on Twitter and expressed her appreciation and said that she felt honored by her new role.
In the end, Trump is still going to get the team that he wants. Despite the shaky nomination of Betsy DeVos, the criticisms that she is unqualified to run, the intense scrutiny she faced in the senate last month, she was still confirmed as the education secretary. Labor groups and other organizations have spoken against her nomination, and some even held protests, but nothing can seem to stop the one Betsy DeVos from among several of Trump's picks for cabinet.
DeVos is a 59 year old wealthy Republican donor, who has long campaigned for education reform in Michigan. She is a champion of charter schools which are being funded publicly but are operating outside the state school systems.
